DR. WHO?
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
MARY “KITTY”
HENRY, MD
Aaron Burch
F
or 35 years, Dr. Mary Ann (Kitty) Henry, MD, has contributed
to the health of the Louisville community in countless ways.
Specializing in geriatrics and internal medicine, Dr. Henry
has seen thousands of patients, helped build lasting partnerships
between Norton Healthcare and Jefferson County nursing homes,
contributed to the creation of the Norton House Calls program, and
acted as medical director for multiple organizations including the
Will Ward Clinic, now the nationally recognized The Healing Place
addiction recovery center. Despite a long struggle with multiple
sclerosis and a hemorrhagic stroke in 2012, Dr. Henry continues
to work for patients and her fellow physicians to this day.
A Louisville native, Dr. Henry was born at St. Joseph’s Infirmary
in 1954. Her father, James Joseph Henry, worked in estate planning
while Anne, her mother, served as an operating room nurse at St.
Joseph’s before six children, three boys and three girls, kept her
hands full at home.
Dr. Henry and her siblings were raised Catholic on a five acre plot
of land in Pewee Valley. The girls attended Presentation Academy
downtown and developed an interest in horses thanks to her father
and Dian Fossey, the famous zoologist and naturalist and friend of
the family. Although Fossey was a California native, she spent a significant amount of time in Louisville and worked as an occupational
therapist at Kosair Children’s Hospital before traveling to Africa.
“We came home from school one day and we just had horses.
Our dad had bought them but he didn’t know anything about them.
So Dian was a great help. She taught us everything we knew,” said
Dr. Henry who corresponded with Fossey throughout her time in
Africa. “She always wrote back, as busy as she was. She was a very
interesting person.”
Following high school, Dr. Henry was invited to attend the University of Louisville on a full scholarship. The university kept having
her back, accepting Dr. Henry to the U of L School of Medicine in
1980. The kids were raised on U of L basketball, and often went to
games hours early to get a good spot. As students, they received
free admission but it was on a first-come, first-served basis. “That
was the only way to get a seat. We used to show up with our dinner,
our books, the newspaper, the whole nine yards. We’d sit and spend
time for a couple hours before the game,” she said.
Following medical school, Dr. Henry was selected for residency at
U of L as well. It was there Dr. Henry had her first serious encounter
with multiple sclerosis.
“I had really bad vertigo and literally couldn’t move without
throwing up,” she said. “I lost 25 pounds in six weeks with no effort
on my part. In fact, the opposite, I was trying to keep food down.
I’d have good days where I could move a little bit and then others
where anything would set me off. I also had paresthesia (pins and
needles) in my legs.”
MS was treated m Ս