CHA's mission "to advance the Catholic health ministry of the United States in caring for people and communities" is tightly connected to the association's core values of integrity, respect,
excellence and stewardship.
Beyond a mission statement and core values, CHA in recent years created a shared statement of identity, outlined health care principles and priorities in the document "Our Vision for U.S. Health Care," and developed and updated successive three-year strategic plans that guide the work of the association.
These documents provide clarity to CHA's purpose and priorities and frame the principles the association and its members use to advocate for health policy that leaves no one behind.
With the fiscal year 2021–2023 strategic plan set to be updated, the CHA Board of Trustees determined that an important first step would be to develop a clearly articulated vision statement that aligns with the mission and values of CHA and informs CHA's
strategic priorities going forward. The board believes adopting a vision statement that captures the ministry's aspirations for CHA and Catholic health care in the U.S. is of great importance in a time of serious challenges, immense unmet needs, and
increasing opportunities to serve in dynamic new ways.
The board appointed a Vision Committee in the fall to craft the statement. "Given the continuous change and need for transformation in the health care industry, the board felt it was the right time to review and update the strategic plan for CHA and to
do so in the context of its vision statement, mission and values," said Laura Kaiser, board chair.
Kaiser
Kaiser, president and chief executive of SSM Health, and Damond Boatwright, vice chair of the CHA board and president and chief executive of Hospital Sisters Health System, co-chair the Vision Committee.
CHA board members who fill out the committee are Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer, executive vice president/chief administrative officer, Mercy; Dougal Hewitt, executive vice president/chief mission and sponsorship officer, Providence St. Joseph Health; Fahad Tahir, president and chief executive, Ascension Saint Thomas; and Tina M. Weatherwax-Grant, senior vice president, public policy and advocacy, Trinity Health.
Kaiser said that in order to achieve desired outcomes, an organization's vision statement, mission statement, values and strategy must work in harmony. "A vision statement offers an aspirational view of the desired future, a direction to work toward.
A mission statement describes why an organization and the people who comprise it are pursuing the vision and endeavoring to complete the work necessary to deliver on the mission. Our values describe desired behaviors we will embrace as together we
pursue our vision, mission and strategy," she said.
Tenfold Health, a consultancy providing services to CHA and the board on the vision statement development, is reaching out to CHA members and external stakeholders this month to seek their participation in interviews or virtual focus groups. Those information
gathering sessions are intended to gain insight into what the evolution of Catholic health care might look like and what opportunities might exist for the ministry to positively impact the direction of health care in the U.S. During a meeting in November,
members of the Vision Committee agreed that the vision statement needs to be bold and serve as a healing and unifying call to action.
This month CHA members who have been active in the association through service on committees, advisory councils, work groups or affinity groups are being asked to complete a short survey. Other members will be invited to participate in small group Zoom
meetings with Tenfold to provide additional input.
Information gathered from the survey and conversations with members will be shared with the Vision Committee and used to shape the vision statement that will be approved by the CHA board and shared with the CHA membership in June.
For more information about the visioning process, contact Brian Reardon, CHA vice president of communications and marketing.