ATLANTA — CHA member delegates gathered at the annual Membership Assembly here voted to approve an amendment to the association's bylaws, passed a three-year dues resolution and elected a slate of new board members. The membership assembly took place during the Catholic Health Assembly.
M. Colleen Scanlon, the outgoing speaker of the membership assembly and the chairperson of CHA's Governance Committee, presented the proposed bylaws amendment for the vote. The amendment allows current CHA-member organizations that became for-profit entities during fiscal year 2011 or will in fiscal year 2012 to remain members in the association through June 30, 2012. Scanlon, who is senior vice president of advocacy for Catholic Health Initiatives of Englewood, Colo., and Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, CHA president and chief executive officer, explained that the amendment keeps several long-standing members of CHA in the association during a yearlong study of the association's membership. After a brief discussion, the amendment was passed by the delegates present, with 94 percent voting in favor.
The dues resolution was presented by Finance Committee Chairperson Joseph R. Swedish. This resolution replaces a similar one that expires June 30. The resolution gives the CHA board authority to annually adjust the dues rate for representative members to the lowest rate deemed appropriate to generate sufficient revenue for CHA's operations, provided the rate does not exceed the rate set in fiscal year 2011. The resolution was unanimously approved by the delegates.
Swedish also reported that CHA is in good financial health as confirmed by the association's most recent audit.
Four people were elected to their first three-year terms on the CHA board of trustees, and six board members were reelected for second three-year terms. Elected to first terms are: Dr. Brian J. D'Arcy, senior vice president, medical affairs, Catholic Health System, Buffalo, N.Y.; Sr. Judith Ann Karam, CSA, president and chief executive, Sisters of Charity Health System, Cleveland; Laurence J. O'Connell, executive director of the Ministry Leadership Center, Sacramento, Calif.; and J. Alex Valdez, president and chief executive, CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, Santa Fe, N.M.
Reelected for second three-year terms are: Lindsey E. Artola, system vice president, advocacy and development, Provena Health in Mokena, Ill.; Sr. M. Peter Lillian DiMaria, O CARM, director, Avila Institute of Gerontology, Germantown, N.Y.; Corinne R. Francis, vice president, mission integration, Saint Michael's Medical Center, Newark, N.J.; Linda McClung, senior vice president and chief administrative officer, CHRISTUS Health, Irving, Texas; Deborah A. Proctor, president and chief executive, St. Joseph Health System, Orange, Calif.; and Alan R. Yordy, president and chief mission officer, PeaceHealth, Bellevue, Wash.
Swedish, who is president and chief executive of Trinity Health in Novi, Mich., was elected CHA's vice chairperson/chairperson-elect. He succeeds Robert V. Stanek, who was installed as chairperson during the assembly's opening Liturgy. Stanek is immediate past president and chief executive of Catholic Health East, Newtown Square, Pa.
Amendment to CHA bylaws
CHA member delegates voted to amend the association's bylaws during the annual Membership Assembly. The amendment is shown below with new language in italics.
Article IV, Section 3A. Representative Membership. Any Catholic health system, sponsor, or freestanding Catholic entity shall be eligible for Representative Membership if it (1) is located in the United States, (2) promotes or fosters the values of the Catholic health ministry, (3) embraces and supports the mission and purposes of the Association, and (4) is a not-for-profit entity;provided, however, that for FY2012, the requirements of Article IV, Sections 3A(4) and B(4) shall be temporarily waived only for any for-profit entity that was, or is a successor to an entity that was, a Representative Member or System Participant Member of the Association in FY2011.