Sheila Carroll works to give healthcare to all


Sheila Carroll works to give healthcare to all

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Sheila Carroll, Enquirer Women of the Year 2019 (Photo: Shae Combs for Game Day Communications)

Sheila Carroll can’t sit still. And she doesn’t want to. 

This 77-year-old had retired three times. The parties were always good, she joked. But there was always something pushing her to do more. So, she interviewed at a few places looking for volunteers. She didn’t know her drive would soon lead to giving healthcare to thousands of adults and children. 

Eventually she met Mother Sarafina at The Rose Garden Mission on 18th and Madison in Covington. They got to talking, and both wished they could open a free health clinic.

“I heard myself say ‘oh we can do that,’ ” Carroll said. 

The two prayed about it and hoped their dream would come to fruition.   

In 2009, she helped launch a nurse-run health ministry and gave out 67 free flu shots on the first day it was open. Then the two opened a medical clinic in 2012, then a free dental clinic in 2017.

“I’m always amazed,” Carroll said. 

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Carroll is the executive director of The Rose Garden Center for Hope and Healing, a nonprofit state-certified special health clinic. She has helped thousands of children and adults in crisis receive primary healthcare and diagnostic services otherwise unavailable to them. 

Last year, 505 people made 2,411 visits to the nursing station inside the Mission’s main door.  

In 2017, the dentist center became Northern Kentucky’s first and only free dentistry. The dentist did 62 extractions in a single day. In 2018, 121 patients received free services worth $83,000.  

“Sheila Carroll is the most caring, selfless person I know. She gives her all to the needs of others and gives of her time endlessly to provide healthcare for those who have no resources,” Extended Duty Dental Assistance Leah Britt wrote in nominating Carroll for Enquirer Women of the Year honors. “She loves her staff as well as her patients, and we all love her.” 

Carroll credited her drive to God and her friends. 

When she retired, she said the prayer “Lord what is mine to do” to help guide her to what she should do next in life. That’s how she found The Rose Garden Center for Hope and Healing, she said. 

Each patient gets Carroll’s full attention. One that she’ll always remember is a woman who came in for high blood pressure who lost insurance because she had to stop working as a welder. 

At the end of the initial appointment, Carroll asked her “anything else?” – which she’s known to ask. The woman shared that she had an abnormal pap smear. With Carroll’s guidance, the woman found out she had cervical cancer. 

“I told her I would walk her through this cancer,” Carroll said.  

That woman is still alive today and visits the center. 

“A lot of them come back to us,” Carroll said. “It’s very gratifying.” 

ABOUT CARROLL: 

Birthplace: Cincinnati 

Current residence: Fort Thomas, Kentucky

Family: Children: Cathy, 57, Bridget, 54, Paul, 52, Daniel, 50, Andrew, 47 

Education: Master of Science in Nursing, University of Kentucky

Occupation: Retired advanced practice registered nurse

WHAT SHE SAYS:

What inspires you to give back/help others?  “God and friends. I prayed for a year before I retired the same prayer: Lord what is mine to do?”

What problem or need in the community would you like to see addressed? “Access to care, especially medical and dental care.”

Who influenced or inspired you to care about others? “There was a women years and year ago, Dorothy Day, who founded the Catholic worker and was very instrumental in forwarding the care of migrant workers and for other people who are financially compromised.”

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Read or Share this story: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/northern-ky/2019/10/05/2019-women-year-sheila-carroll-works-give-healthcare-all/2431435001/


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