WASHINGTON, D.C. — CHA's Membership Assembly has approved changes to the association's bylaws, intended to allow CHA to be more inclusive in its membership. The 88 percent approval of the measure came during a business meeting June 8.
The bylaws changes allow both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations to be eligible for CHA representative (voting) membership as long as they are approved as Catholic by the local bishop or recommended for membership by either the local bishop or by a canonical juridic person, after dialogue with the local bishop. All CHA members must "promote, embrace, and foster the mission, purposes and values of CHA, including the principles of Catholic social and moral teaching." The bylaws say the CHA board has explicit authority to revisit a member's eligibility at any time and can revoke membership if it appears an organization no longer meets the criteria.
The vote culminates more than three years of discernment by the board and a membership study committee regarding how to respond to changes in the ministry, in which some Catholic providers have adopted new structural models of organization. The committee reflected on the issue of membership criteria, explored the lived experience of health care providers using the new models and developed recommendations. Based on the recommendations, the board finalized the bylaws language that was submitted to the assembly for vote.
Each CHA representative member that is a health system gets a certain number of votes from a pool, based on that system's total operating expenses, as compared with the operating expenses of the other health systems in the pool.
Each CHA representative member that is not a health system is entitled to one vote.
Also at the business meeting, the Membership Assembly elected as CHA vice chairperson/chairperson-elect Robert Henkel, who is president and chief executive of St. Louis-based Ascension Health and executive vice president of its parent Ascension.
Crowley
Hochman
Mazzoccoli
Sr. O'Connor
Sr. Rayburn
The assembly elected five new board members to three-year terms:
- Jane Crowley, executive vice president and chief transformation officer of Mercy Health of Cincinnati
- Dr. Rodney Hochman, president and chief executive of Providence Health & Services of Renton, Wash.
- Andrea Mazzoccoli, senior vice president and chief nurse executive of Bon Secours Health System of Marriottsville, Md.
- Sr. Catherine O'Connor, CSB, vice president of mission and sponsorship for Covenant Health of Tewksbury, Mass.
- Sr. Patricia Rayburn, OSF, sponsor member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity of Redwood, Calif.
Delegates also approved a dues resolution that enables the board to adjust the representative member dues rate for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 to the lowest rate the board deems appropriate to generate the funds needed to carry out the remainder of CHA's fiscal year 2015-2017 strategic plan. The rate is not to exceed that applied for fiscal year 2015. The measure replaces a resolution that expired with the end of the 2015 fiscal year.