Experts to Share Insights on Thriving in Times of Change
DENVER (June 13, 2010) — Catholic health ministry leaders have gathered in Denver for the 2010 Catholic Health Assembly, June 13-15. The assembly, hosted by the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), is the premier gathering of Catholic health leaders from throughout the ministry.
The structural changes taking place in U.S. health care finance have many leaders in the field asking how the shifts will affect their organizations and communities and what they can do to prepare.
Attendees will gain insight on such questions from keynote speakers with expertise in health care policy, global change, organizational leadership and Catholic social teaching. The theme is "Forging Our Future: Strengthening the Ministry through Turbulent Times." And presenters will aim to help equip ministry leaders for the changes ahead.
The assembly's roster of general session speakers includes:
Thomas L. Friedman, Pulitzer Prize columnist for The New York Times and author, will call for national renewal through a "green" revolution while giving examples of the impact of globalization on the U.S. and world economies as well as the relationship between environmental devastation and the Great Recession of 2008-2009. (Sunday, June 13, 2:00 p.m.)
Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, secretary for health and social services for the Archdiocese of Boston, professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard university and former president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, will explain why it is essential for Catholic health care providers to stay true to the foundations of their healing ministry - particularly in the midst of change.
(Sunday, June 13, 3:45 p.m.) Uwe E. Reinhardt, chair in political economics at Princeton University, member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and past president of the Association of Health Services Research, will convene a panel of health care leaders to offer an appraisal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the new U.S. health care law. (Monday, June 14, 9:35 a.m.)
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor Harvard Business School and author or co-author of 18 books and advisor to multinational corporations on organizational change, will challenge Catholic health care providers to be innovative leaders based on lessons learned from other organizations that have overcome national and global challenges faced by their businesses. (Monday, June 14, 3:45 p.m.)
T.R. Reid, NPR correspondent, author, documentary producer and health policy fellow of the Kaiser Family Foundation, will describe how universal coverage for health care is provided in some free-market countries and discuss attitudes regarding health care as a basic human right in countries other than the United States. (Tuesday, June 15, 11:15 a.m.)
CHA works to reduce the environmental impact of the assembly. Efforts focus on the following: reduced paper waste, increased recycling opportunities and not serving bottled water.
The assembly headquarters hotel is the Hyatt Regency Denver, 650 15th Street, Denver.
The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), founded in 1915, supports the Catholic health ministry's commitment to improve the health status of communities and create quality and compassionate health care that works for everyone. The Catholic health ministry is the nation's largest group of not-for-profit health systems and facilities that, along with their sponsoring organizations, employ more than 750,000 women and men who deliver services combining advanced technology with the Catholic caring tradition.