Wisconsin

Women:

Celebrating Their Contributions

Mary Krueger
Mary grew up in Dorchester, a small town
north of Wausau, in a very large family. She
earned her nursing degree and worked full
time as a nurse. After the birth of her
daughter, she went back to school and earned
her Bachelor s and Master s Degrees in
Business Administration. Mrs. Krueger currently
serves as president of St. Clare s Hospital.
We are just going to ask you some questions about women and yourself. First could you tell us about
your childhood and are you from Wisconsin?
I am from Wisconsin. I grew up in a small town north of Wausau called Dorchester. The population is
slightly over 300, but I grew up on a dairy farm. I had seven brothers and sisters; there were four girls
and four boys. I have lived in this general area for most of my life.
What are some key memories you had from growing up?
I remember having a big family was always fun. I had a sister who was only 17 months younger that me.
We looked very similar and many people could not tell us apart. We were treated like twins when we were
growing up. So we went through life together and she is one of my best friends. That was a very special
part of my family memories. I was also very close to my other brothers and sisters growing up and we
are still very close as adults. Six of us live very close in Wisconsin, so that is a wonderful memory. I have
many great memories of farm life. One of my fondest memories is that we were very active in 4H.
Especially this time of year with the fair, which was a very big event. You had a lot of preparation work
and in hindsight I was doing things that really prepared me for leadership. In 4H we were responsible for
projects, had to lead teams, give presentations, demonstrations, coordinate events and activities at the fair.
Many of those skills that I did when I was young are things that I do today. I continue to work
coordinating teams, planning events, and prioritizing. In hindsight when people say where do you think
you got some of your basic skills, it was really in 4H. It was a very important part of my childhood.
What do you think are the greatest differences in how women are treated today compared to then?
There is a big difference. When I was growing up, there were very strict roles around what men did and
women did. Interestingly, on the farm we were really treated generically. The boys and girls all had to
work together as a team to get things done. Although I would say the boys were given more duties to
drive tractors. I had to drive the tractor, but they did more fieldwork. We did more of the home related
work, such, as cooking, laundry, and cleaning. Together as a family we worked together. It wasnt really
until high school that it occurred to me that there were very different roles for women. When I was
growing up my mom had a very traditional mother role. She stayed home full time raising kids. She did
not work outside the home until many years later. She became a cook and cooked for weddings. My
father was a dairy farmer and also had a job off of the farm. He had a very traditional male role. In high
school they had just passed Title IX. It required schools to offer girls sports. When I was a freshman the
school began offering girls sports. At that time there were no girl sports. The only sport a girl could be
in was cheerleading. There were intramural sports, such as volleyball and basketball. However, nothing

'2010

D.C. Everest Area Schools Publications

Krueger, Mary

Wisconsin
Women:

Celebrating

Their Contributions

wasvvery competitive. Some of the fist girls sports were swim team and track and field. Soon following
were basketball and volleyball. That was a very big change. When I was a junior we had to talk to our
advisers to discuss career planning. I remember going to my counselor and saying I am really interested
in going into medicine and becoming a physician. He said, No, women should not be doctors. That
would be a terrible life for a woman. You should either be a nurse or a teacher. Then he gave me two
brochures and sent me out. That is the way it was. I did not question it because women were either
teachers or nurses. All of the women I knew who worked were teachers and nurses. My father asked me,
Why would you want to be a physician when you could
stay home with your kids? Why waste your time going to
college? I was on the cusp of a lot of change in the roles
That was the way it
of women.

was, I did not

question it because
women were either
teachers or nurses.

Who has inspired you?

When I was growing up we did not have bussing to
school. We had to have a carpool take us to school. My
nextdoor neighbor was a nurse. I remember her being one
of the only moms who worked outside the home. I remember that whenever someone had a medical issue
they would call her. I remember everyone just held her up as a woman.
The other person who was definitely a model was my aunt. She was a Catholic nun and had her masters
degree from Marquette University. She was a teacher and a principal and then she became the superintendent. I remember everyone was in awe because she held a very prestigious position. She was a woman
who had a very high degree and the only woman I knew with that degree. She was my role model and I
just admired her. So, that is who inspired me, in addition, to my parents. I loved my parents they were a
great inspiration.

Could you describe your education?

I took a bit of a crooked path, but it was okay. When I graduated from high school I wanted to go to
college. Our family was very big and did not have a lot of resources. During this time there were few
scholarships. So you had to either put yourself through school or not go. I was allready to go to college
and my dad said, You are just going to go into so much debt and have to borrow money. I am not sure
if you can get a loan. He kind of discouraged me from going to college. My older sister had gone to a
two year nursing school in Wausau. He said, Why dont you go to a two year technical school because
it is less expensive. So I went to the technical school in Wausau and earned a degree in nursing. Then,
after I was out working for five years I decided to go and earn my bachelors degree. Now during this
time they didnt have any programs that allowed you to transfer your credits from technical school. So I
had to start all over. I worked as a full time nurse and went back to school after my daughter was born.
I started all over from scratch and took one class at a time. I took English, then history, and all of the
prerequisites. Eventually, I got into the nursing program that offered classes at night and on weekends.
After I finished my bachelors degree, then I waited a couple of years and I had two children. I knew that
if I wanted to move into an administrator level job, by that time I was a manager, I would need to earn a
masters degree. They began to have more nontraditional ways to earn a masters degree. The University
of Wisconsin had a program for nurses who wanted get a masters degree in business administration. You
had to go in on weekends and in for a week at a time during the summer. The rest of the courses were
through the telephone. They were just starting the Internet, but you could not get it in rural areas. You
had to live in metropolitan cities. In addition, there were very slow dial ups. So we did not do it over the
Internet. We used the telephone; the professors would lecture over the phone. We had to fax in everything.
Krueger, Mary

'2010

D.C. Everest Area Schools

Publications

Wisconsin
Women:

Celebrating

Their Contributions

This was while I was working full time and it was very hard. It took a long time; my masters degree took
three years and by bachelors degree took seven years.
What caused you to pursue a life in the health industry?
I think Mary Light was my inspiration. My guidance counselor told me I should be a nurse or a teacher.
I think that when I saw Mrs. Light it was so neat to help people. It was a tough decision between teaching
because I thought teaching seemed really neat. In fact, I became a nurse and was working for two years
and didnt like what I was doing. I thought I needed to go
back to school to become a teacher. I told the hospital I
was going to resign and was going to go back to Virterbo
I think that being
and get a teaching degree. Within the last two weeks
woman in the health
before I left somebody approached me from a clinic. It
was someone from the oncology department. I really
field as a leader
enjoyed working with oncology patients. The physician
may be easier than
said, We have an opening in the oncology department. I
said, I am going back to college to become a teacher. He
said, Oh, why would you do that? Why dont you want to continue working as a nurse? I said, Because
I do not enjoy what I am doing. I dont like the setting, there are some things I dont like about the work.
He said, Well, why dont you give this a shot? Give it a year, most universities keep your application
for a year. So I called the university and asked if they would hold it open for one year and they agreed
to. I went to work for Marshfield Clinic and I loved it. I never decided to go back to teaching, but there
was some teaching involved with my job.

What do you think is the hardest thing about being a woman in the health field?
I think that being a woman in the health field as a leader may be easier than other fields. The health field
is female dominated, especially within nursing. When I was working, men only comprised one to two
percent of all nurses. Women were very dominant. Now it is probably closer to twenty percent, but it still
isnt 50/50. My son is a nurse and in his unit it is 50/50. Within my field it was easy because all of the
women were leaders. In the health care field about ten years ago you could not really find a president of
hospitals that was female. There were none in Wisconsin except Catholic nuns. The nuns were the
pathfinders for female administration in hospitals.
Then, I was named president of this hospital in
2003. At that time there were five female presidents
in the state of Wisconsin. Since that time it was
greatly changed. It is probably around 40/60. In
terms of leadership below the president, women
now dominate it.
What path has your career taken over the years?
I started out as a nurse working in the hospital. I
loved working as a nurse, but there were some parts
I did not enjoy. Then I worked in a clinic setting, which I absolutely loved working with the cancer
patients. It was during this time that there was significant progress in research. When I first started as a
nurse there was a young man with testicular cancer. These patients never lived for more than six months.
They all died; there was nothing that worked on them. Within the first two years of working they came
out with new drugs and more started to live. In addition, women had better treatment for breast cancer.
Krueger, Mary

'2010

D.C. Everest Area Schools

Publications

Wisconsin
Women:

Celebrating

Their Contributions

There were many better treatments and procedures for many different types of cancer. It was a fascinating
field because you could actually see the opportunities. I loved what I was doing at the clinical setting. I
was a staff nurse for approximately ten years. Then one day my boss got sick and asked me to step in
temporarily. So I was the interim manager and continued to work as a nurse. After nearly a year they
asked me if I would be interested in working as the full time manager. So I got into management almost
by accident. I was promoted a couple of times. Then later one of my bosses had a heart attack and they
asked me to step in and manage Marshfield Clinic. I was the chief operating officer for approximately
six months at Marshfield Clinic. It was again because my
boss got sick. That gave me a wonderful opportunity to
learn how to run operations. When he came back I was
I started out as a
given senior level position in administration. I had to do a
nurse working in
lot of project work, but a lot of interesting experiences.
Then the organization underwent some restructuring. I
the hospital. I loved
was no longer the top person, but the next level down. I
woking as a
was very happy with this position. When this job
opportunity came around I thought how cool would it be
to build a hospital. I applied and thought it would be too much fun. So I became the president of the
hospital from that point.
What are some of your favorite parts about this job?
Sometimes I cant believe that they pay me to do this because I love it. In the beginning it was a lot of
fun to build something. Especially with my background in healthcare and my whole career in healthcare.
I knew what worked and didnt work well and things I though should be done better from a patients
perspective. So from a position of president I could hire workers that I thought could lead, and moreover,
give the best care possible. One aspect that is very important is safety. Hospitals are very complicated
places and things can go wrong. So you must be sure that it is safe. Therefore, we were able to build in
a lot of measures, processes, and philosophies about safety. This was a landmark hospital in the state of
Wisconsin. It was the first hospital in Wisconsin that was built to be all computerized. Most hospitals use
some computers, but continue to use paper charts. The future is all electronics and all computerized. We
had to come up with a design and at this time there were very few all-digital hospitals. We could only
find three in the country at this time. Even they had to use paper in some situations. We thought how
could we do this and how can work flow. In an old-fashioned hospital there is a central nurses station
and the rooms are centered around it. This is necessary because the charts are paper and you have to go
and get the patients chart and everyone has to work off of it. Whereas, in an electronic hospital you dont
have to share a paper chart, rather you use a computer with all of the information. So we designed it
without the central station. Workspaces all around the floor. Trying to figure out how to use computers
and make it work was so exciting because no one had ever done this. I have to say that the fun part of
my job is to watch staff blossom. We hire many new first time managers and it is fun to watch them learn
and grow as individuals. It is especially fun because many people in leadership are women. This is
probably one of the most female dominant ministries in our system.
Do you think there are more employment opportunities for women today?
Absolutely, without a doubt. When I was going through my career there were no women role models. At
Marshfield Clinic when I became an administrator I was the only female. There was a room of nine or
ten men and I was the only woman. It was very tough because men would go off and to guy things
together. For example, they would go out golfing or out for beer after work and I was never involved. It
Krueger, Mary

'2010

D.C. Everest Area Schools

Publications

Wisconsin
Women:

Celebrating

Their Contributions

was very socially isolating. It was very tough. Over my career I have seen some phenomenal changes you
may not appreciate, but when I was in ninth grade girls could play school sports. You may take this for
granted, but there were a lot of women that had to pave the way so that there was equity for women. I
think that was terrific because now you will not face the barriers I did when I was your age. You always
have to have some woman break through the glass ceiling. Somebody has to be the first woman to do
something then others will join. Somebody has to be the first senator, somebody has to be the first judge,
the first governor, presidential candidate. The generation a decade before me were the women who really
pressed the issue. Now I dont think the gender issue is
anywhere near the barrier. There may be in some
industries where it is male dominated, such as
It is especially fun
engineering. In the hospital the information technology
because many
men have generally dominated the field. However, we
have recently had two female directors. Certainly in
people in the
health it is not a big deal, maybe in other industries the
leadership are
issue is greater. However, I feel there is much more equity
and I dont think youll face the same discrimination.
Do you think the role of a woman in family structures has changed?
Its somewhat changed, but all the research shows that women continue to play the dominate role in
raising children. I have seen a lot of change in that. When my husband and I were first married he was a
dairy farmer and did virtually nothing in the house. Now that he is semi retired, he does the majority of
the household work. So there is a lot more equity in that. He has time and I dont have as much. I know
that my son does a lot. He lives alone and he loves to cook and have friends over. In addition, he is an
excellent cleaner. So I think that he would have very little difficulty in sharing the role. I think that while
it is changing, the responsibilities continue to fall back on the women. I think that it will continue to
change as more men continue to stay at home. In addition, when both spouses work it causes a lot of
juggling between them. I see more people sharing the roles.
In your opinion do you think that domestic violence has changed?
I think what has changed is that there is a lot more awareness. I think that it existed and was considered
acceptable. Growing up we knew of family
situations where the husband was very abusive
to the wife, but thats the way it was. It was just
what happened. I think that we have a lot more
awareness. In addition, I think that as a society it
is unacceptable. I think that it went on, but it was
not reported. Now it is dealt with in the courts
and is reported. I dont now if it has statistically
decreased. I think that awareness now is very
good and as a society we have to know.
What do you think of the tradition of a woman
taking her husbands name?
When I got married it was so very rare. If you didnt do it everybody went what is wrong with her. I
actually thought about it, but then I thought of the consequences with children when their parents didnt
have the same name. From a societys perspective it is easier because then the family can be identified,
Krueger, Mary

'2010

D.C. Everest Area Schools

Publications

Wisconsin
Women:

Celebrating

Their Contributions

but I dont have a strong opinion. My daughter is a physician and she pointed out that when you are in
medical school nearly all of the women take their husbands name. However, if you get married after
medical school it is almost unheard of because you have to go back and change all of the documentation
and licensing. In addition, you always have to show proof of your name change in multiple ways. They
really encourage you not to change your name because they have to be able to locate all of your medical
school transcripts. So I guess my daughter has no intention of changing her name. I can see my son
considering taking his wifes name, hyphenated. I can see him doing that unless his wife had a really long
name, where the kids filling out their transcripts would
not have enough spaces.

I think that while it

What are some important life lessons that you would like
is changing, the
younger generations of women to be aware of?
I think an important lesson is to believe in yourself. Never
responsibilities
let anyone tell youre your not good enough, not smart
continue to fall back
enough, not worthy. Believe in yourself and have
confidence in yourself and follow your dreams. You have
to have dreams, goals, and be able to reach for those goals. I believe that in this society you can be
anything you want to be, of course within reason. For example, if youre 58 you probably arent going
to play in the NBA. Another example, is that you have to have a certain level of intellect to become a
physician. However, if you are smart there is nothing standing in your way being a physician. Or if your
athletic there is nothing standing in your way of becoming a professional basketball player. Believe in
yourself, have dreams and go after them. In addition, dont stop believing if someone says you cant do
it. There will always be people that will say youre not tall enough, not good, not a male, not a female,
or the kind of person that should do this. Dont believe it, because there are people that do it and they are
the inspiration. Somebody has to be the first. You have to believe in yourself and you have to work hard
to get it. Nothing in life thats worth it comes without work.
What is your favorite part about being a woman?
I would have to say having the opportunity to bring another life into the world. It is more unbelievable
than any other experience. Having a baby grow inside of you and then bringing a life into the world its
just such a phenomenal feeling. In addition, being a
mom. I think that moms just like dads have a special
place in their childs life.

Mary and her husband at a dance.

Krueger, Mary

As president of St. Clare s

Hospital, Mary has overcame
many gender barriers in health
administration. She works hard to
ensure quality health services
provided by St. Clare s. In

'2010

D.C. Everest Area Schools

Publications