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02/26/2025
Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford names Daphne David as new President and CEO
02/06/2025
Saint Alphonsus Welcomes Nat'e Guyton as New President of Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center
02/06/2025
Trinity Health Of New England Names Robert Roose, M.D., MPH, President of Community Hospitals
Catholic Health World
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AprilReport illustrates importance of having a comprehensive understanding of community benefit. -
AprilAmid surge in deportations, ethicist makes case for protecting undocumented immigrants
Kuczewski of Loyola University Chicago says it’s necessary to flip the narrative about immigration. -
AprilNeed for heart surgery turns tables on longtime chaplain at Baylor St. Luke’s
Rev. Mang Tiak shares her story of faith and recovery. -
AprilMinistry leaders describe their personal spirituality in new CHA podcast series
In separate episodes, eight executives explain what animates their work. Darren Henson, CHA senior director of ministry formation, developed the podcast. -
AprilKeeping Up - April Edition
Executive appointments and facility news from across the Catholic health ministry. -
AprilHoly Cross Health program helps low-income and minority women to access care for breast health
Partners in Breast Health program provides free screening and diagnostic health services for eligible women. -
AprilCHRISTUS Children’s strategic expansion is improving pediatric care access in South Texas
Hospital’s CEO says goal is to ensure patients get quality care close to home. -
AprilPublic health expert urges care providers to limit use of plastics to necessities
Dr. Philip J. Landrigan says production, use and disposal of plastics are a global threat to the environment and health. -
AprilCatholic Health invites staff to document sacred encounters
At hospitals, seemingly routine happenings, viewed in a spiritual light, can be recognized as sacred encounters. -
AprilCHA’s sponsorship and mission services department revitalizes its programming
Goal is to better equip ministry for the future. -
AprilCHI Memorial Hospital gets to the heart of reducing readmission rates for cardiac patients
Program hinges on coordination within hospital and communication with patients. -
AprilSr. Barbara Schamber played key role in ushering in lay sponsorship for Providence St. Joseph
Sr. Barbara Schamber, SP, died March 23 at her home in Olympia, Washington. She had been a Sister of Providence for 62 years and had held multiple leadership positions in her congregation as well as governance and sponsorship roles with Providence St. Joseph Health. -
March 2025Grant helps staff at Massachusetts memory care facility learn how to better help patients
More than 50 staffers now certified through the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners -
March 2025SSM hospital learns about, joins community aid efforts at Functional Friday events
ST. CHARLES, MO. — After they packed boxes with goods, loaded the boxes onto carts, pushed the carts across the street and carried their cargo down to the basement food panty at St. Peter Catholic Church, the three dozen or so SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital — St. Charles and Wentzville, Missouri, staffers looked around as if to say: “What next?” -
March 2025CHRISTUS Health to close 174-bed hospital in San Antonio
CHRISTUS Health is set to close its 174-bed hospital in San Antonio by April 25. The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word had opened CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital — Medical Center in 1869. -
March 2025St. Mary’s in Richmond, Virginia, to complete $370 million expansion
Later this year, Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, is set to begin construction on a $370 million project that will add a tower and renovate existing facilities. -
March 2025Mission director discusses delicate balance of workplace safety, human dignity in mental health crises
In the gospel story of the Gerasene demoniac, Jesus encounters a man who could not be bound by shackles and chains or otherwise subdued. The man wandered among the tombs and the hillsides, crying out and cutting himself with stones. -
March 2025Fluid management programs at Mercy cardiovascular clinics keep heart patients out of hospitals
George Largent can’t praise the staff of the Mercy cardiovascular clinic in Joplin, Missouri, enough. “They’ll pray with you, cry with you, laugh with you, and hold your hand. And then tell you to stop eating salt,” he said, laughing. -
March 2025How to prevent violence in schools and communities? Be a green dot
Green Dot initiative in several Kentucky high schools is supported by CommonSpirit Mission and Ministry Fund -
March 2025HSHS plans $270 million investment to expand, remodel Wisconsin hospitals
Hospital Sisters Health System leaders plan to invest $270 million to expand and remodel its two hospitals in Green Bay, Wisconsin, over the next few years. -
March 2025‘Fight like heck’ to preserve Medicaid, protect U.S. health care, say speakers at AHA rural health care conference
In an opening plenary session, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack and AHA Board Chair Tina Freese Decker explained that the health and well-being of millions of Americans are at risk. -
March 2025Recognize now that ‘black swan’ events can happen, and plan for them, leadership consultant advises
SAN ANTONIO – Hospitals and other health care facilities that prepare effectively could mitigate the impact of “black swan” events, a leadership consultant told attendees of a rural health care leadership conference here. Black swan events are rare, seemingly unexpected, yet high-impact happenings that people – in hindsight – believe could have been predicted after all. -
March 2025Covenant Children’s stays focused on mission while in the thick of measles outbreak
Dr. Lara Johnson says preparation, collaboration has served west Texas hospital well -
March 2025With new strategic plan, CEO leads effort to ‘illuminate’ Avera’s care delivery system
Jim Dover says system holds fast to its Catholic mission as it moves ahead with new initiatives -
March 2025Sacramento’s Mercy General marks centennial
Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, California, is marking the centennial of its opening at its current location. -
March 2025Providence research shows genomic profiling can improve outcomes for patients with advanced cancer
Researchers advocate for better access to such testing for patients -
March 2025SSM Health works with other St. Louis anchor institutions to expand access to business loans
In St. Louis, healthy lives can flourish in all sorts of places: a growing trucking company, a family funeral home, a block of homes under construction in an underserved neighborhood, and a hot sauce company that got its start in a family kitchen. -
February 2025Catholic Health to merge five foundations into one fundraising arm
Catholic Health’s five independent foundations have begun the process to merge into one new fundraising entity called The Foundation of Catholic Health, the health system announced in February. -
March 2025Mercy College of Health Sciences professor crusades against human trafficking
Joseph Moravec has a vivid memory from when he added a discussion of human trafficking to the curriculum of one of his courses at Mercy College of Health Sciences in 2016. -
March 2025Trinity Health focuses on expanding footprint, services of PACE
Q&A: Two executives discuss why system’s program is one of largest and with broadest geographic scope -
March 2025Keeping Up - March Edition
Executive appointments and facility news from across the Catholic health ministry. -
February 2025Ethicist acknowledges challenges, urges mercy in providing health care to prisoners
CHA webinar explores the ethics of caring for the sick and vulnerable who are incarcerated -
February 2025Catholic relief agencies grapple with how to respond to USAID cuts
Catholic agencies that provide relief services around the globe are grappling with how to respond to plans to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development -
February 2025Providence makes changes to leadership team
Providence St. Joseph Health has made changes to its executive leadership structure. -
February 2025‘The power of presence’: Son’s rare disease rocked family’s world but not their faith
Hans Ostertag was showered with love even as disorder cut short his life -
February 2025Proposals for drastic Medicaid cuts worry Catholic health care providers
Concerns include patients’ loss of coverage, potential closure of hospitals -
February 2025Our Lady of the Lake Health's Community Impact Center provides space for nonprofits
The nonprofits sharing space at Our Lady of the Lake Health's Community Impact Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are celebrating the best kind of officemate situation: one that happened organically and over time. -
February 2025Baylor St. Luke's in Houston arranges double lung transplant even as historic snowstorm approaches
Staff stayed overnight to tend to patient and surgeons navigated deteriorating roads -
February 2025Trinity Health Ann Arbor gets $10 million gift to create neurosciences institute
An anonymous donor has given $10 million to Trinity Health Ann Arbor in Michigan to create a neurosciences institute on the hospital campus. -
February 2025Catholic ministry gathering offers hope to the healers
How can those who serve in Catholic ministries offer hope to fellow travelers who are on a journey of healing? That was the central question posed to participants of a hybrid event entitled "Healing, Help and A Continuum of Hope: A Day of Renewal and Enrichment" that was held in St. Louis and virtually on Feb. 15. The gathering, attended by chaplains, mission and formation leaders and other professionals from Catholic health care and social services, provided an opportunity to gain deeper insights into spiritual life and strengthen collaboration and collegiality among Catholic ministries. -
February 2025Conversations with peers are part of Mercy's approach to addressing problematic physician behavior
Mercy is using a standardized reporting system, prompt responses, and, sometimes, a conversational approach to try to put a quick end to disruptive physician behavior. -
February 2025Mercy health sciences college in central Iowa raises funds for new nursing school
Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa, is undertaking the biggest fundraising campaign in its history — the $15 million Legacy of Faith Campaign — to generate capital to erect a new facility for its nursing school. -
February 2025CommonSpirit-supported nonprofit guides people from 'helplessness into hopefulness'
Gina Monti speaks from experience when she describes the mission of Magnificat Houses in Houston: "We turn that helplessness into hopefulness." -
February 2025Two Bon Secours Mercy Health markets pilot down payment assistance for employees
After Dr. Mutahher Mohammed completed his residency in July, he was thrilled to accept a position as a primary care physician at Mercy Health — Urbana Family Medicine and Pediatrics in Ohio. Working in Urbana meant he and his family could move to nearby Springfield, Ohio, where Mohammed had lived from age 2 to 18. He had been eager to return to the beloved community where his parents and boyhood friends still live. -
February 2025'Magical connection': Equine-assisted therapy program impacts young lives
The setting for physical, occupational or speech therapy is typically a clinical environment — not an outdoor, fenced-in area. But that's where children in Kodiak, Alaska, receive therapy every summer with the help of 1,000-pound assistants sporting glossy coats. It's called hippotherapy, a practice in which horses or ponies are part of the treatment. -
February 2025Professor of philosophy and disability studies on ableism and health disparities: 'Let's actually listen to what disabled people say'
CHA webinar explores how clinicians can communicate with and address the needs of people with disabilities -
February 2025Ministry executives say taking time for hobbies helps counter burnout
As the president and CEO of a 93-hospital, 26-state ministry system, Trinity Health's Mike Slubowski makes the tough decisions needed to sustain that vital ministry. -
February 2025Sponsors, ministry leaders gather to explore sponsorship for our time and the call to push for bold change
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — At CHA's Sponsorship Institute here 76 attendees, including seven CEOs and representatives from 21 ministries, explored the role of sponsors in influencing bold change in Catholic health. -
February 2025Keeping Up - February Edition
Executive appointments and facility news from across the Catholic health ministry. -
February 2025Essentia Health, University of Minnesota to create new nonprofit health care entity
Essentia Health and the University of Minnesota are working together to create a nonprofit health care entity that will support patients now and in the future with "expanded and enhanced" care, the health system and university announced Jan. 24.
Health Progress
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Spring 2025Religious Communities Seek Paths to Long-Term Care for Aging Members
In 2004, the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary decided that they could not offer on-premises skilled care to their aging members. "We made the decision with our heads, and we're living it now with our hearts," said Senior President Sr. Mary Catherine Redmond, PBVM. -
Spring 2025Mission — Moving Beyond 'No Margin, No Mission' in Catholic Health Care
I recently had the opportunity to present and participate in the CHA-hosted Sponsorship Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is a gathering that takes place every other year and is attended by CEOs, chief mission officers and sponsors from across the ministry. In one particularly engaging session, Sr. Tere Maya, CCVI, CHA's senior director for theology and sponsorship, used clips from the movie Cabrini to generate discussion about the future of Catholic health care. She also explored the vital role of sponsors in ensuring our Catholic identity as a ministry of the Church and the sustainability, growth and transformation of the ministry in reading the signs of the times. -
Spring 2025Community Benefit — Navigating Financial Assistance at Mercy: Compassionate Care for Patients
At Mercy, we are committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality care and understand that financial barriers should not prevent anyone from receiving the care they need. Accessing health care can be overwhelming, particularly for individuals and families facing economic difficulties. As part of our mission to bring the healing ministry of Jesus to life, we offer financial assistance programs to try to ensure equitable access to medical services for all. -
Spring 2025Aging — Preserving Catholic Health Care's Footprint in Post-Acute Services
In reflecting on my life and the profound impact that Catholic health care and the dedicated work of Catholic sisters have had on my journey, I find it fitting to introduce Carith Ministries, an organization born last year from a rich tapestry of experiences rooted in compassion, care and community service. -
Winter 2025Why You Need a Chaplain on Your Personal Board of Directors
For those who steward the Catholic health ministry, today's leadership demands constant assessment of how decisions strengthen or limit the influence of our Catholic identity. Whether on behalf of patients, their families or their communities, the decisions leaders make are inescapable and carry lasting implications. -
Winter 2025Reflection: Building a Playbook for Life to Inspire Joy, Overcome Challenges
I know from being an assistant football coach that there are endless formations, designs, schemes and combinations that can be part of an offensive playbook. Yet, it boils down to what a quarterback can do with a football, which is to run it, hand it off or throw it. Life, too, is full of a myriad of philosophies to follow. There are many ways you can run your life. You can fill your playbook with countless plays. -
Fall 2024Catholic Health: Healers and Bridge Builders in a Divided Society
The Catholic health ministry has long used its healing presence in communities to help build peace in society. Today, that presence and ministry are as critical as ever. It requires Catholic health providers and all those who support or work within the ministry to understand the unique role and opportunities that exist to help heal the political divisions in society, just as the ministry heals the physical needs of our communities. -
Fall 2024The Ripple Effect of 'WASH' in Catholic Health Care
When the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul first arrived in Ondo State in Nigeria in 1988, they found fertile agriculture as well as fertile ground for disease and severely limited health care. In 1995, they made a giant health care leap. They opened St. Catherine's Hospital and Maternity. The initial site and building, which were donated, grew to accommodate the remote community's needs. They do not charge patients. -
Fall 2024Bridging Religious Identity in Health Care: The Time Is Now
Anne Fadiman's book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, tells the true story of a three-month-old girl, Lia Lee, in Merced, California, who began to shake uncontrollably. Her parents, immigrants from Laos, took her to a hospital where a team of highly committed doctors did everything you would expect: They stabilized the patient, drew blood and ran tests. They diagnosed little Lia with epilepsy and prescribed a complex cocktail of drugs for the parents to administer at set intervals. -
Fall 2024Mission Across the Miles: Mission Integration in Ambulatory Settings
Building community focused on the call and mission of Catholic health care requires thought and intention, and this feels particularly true when working with tens of thousands of care providers across seven states. How do you connect and inspire those often pressed for time, facing one another on a computer screen? -
Fall 2024
Finding a Path Forward Through Synodality
As I was preparing this column, I was still basking in the afterglow of CHA's annual Assembly, which was held in San Diego in June. The Assembly is the largest in-person gathering of Catholic health care leaders, which is convened by CHA every other year. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn, reconnect with friends and colleagues, and celebrate the good work being done by all our ministries in extending the healing mission of Jesus Christ. -
Fall 2024Ensuring Integrated Palliative Care for an Aging America
Spectacular advances in medical care have resulted in improved overall health and longevity. Combined with a surge of baby boomers, our population is now aging at an unprecedented rate. This demographic shift is anticipated to strain an already taxed post-pandemic health care system.
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Ethics | S5: EP14The Ethics and Philosophy of Pharmaceutical Technology
When we hear the word technology, we tend to think about computers, software, artificial intelligence, etc. But one form of technology that we tend to overlook has been a part of our lives for centuries: pharmacy.Jeffrey Bishop, MD, Ph.D, Tenet Endowed Chair of Bioethics and Professor of Philosophy, Health Care Ethics and Philosophy at St. Louis University, joins the show to discuss how we can think critically about pharmaceuticals as technology. He discusses the etymology of the word "pharmacy," shares how power dynamics play into the decisions we make and offers advice on how to make sound, informed decisions about the drugs we take.
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S5: EP13
Protecting Medicaid Coverage
Medicaid covers 1 in 5 American adults, nearly half of all children in America and 41 percent of births in America. But despite acting as a lifeline for many Americans, the program is under threat of significant cuts from the federal government.In a Health Calls special, CHA's Senior Director of Government Relations Paulo Pontemayor and Barbara DiPietro, PhD, Senior Director of Policy at the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, join the show to discuss the importance of Medicaid. They discuss how potential changes to the Medicaid program would impact American families, employment and community health. They also share how listeners can advocate for the program and the families that depend on it for vital health care coverage.Advocate for Medicaid coverage to your elected representatives by calling the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121
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S5: EP12
Expanding Virtual Spiritual Care
If Catholic health care providers want to treat the whole person, then spiritual care is a vital piece of that puzzle. So in an age when virtual health care is becoming more and more prevalent, how do we also expand the reach of virtual spiritual care?Justin Martin, Director of Spiritual Care Innovation and Transformation at Mercy in St. Louis, Mo., returns to Health Calls to talk about his teams' latest efforts in the virtual spiritual care space. He discusses Mercy's transition from the COVID Care @ Home program, how the system pivoted to in-house technological solutions, and how to maintain trust with patients who may mistrust technological advances.ResourcesLearn about Mercy's COVID Care @ Home program, which won CHA's 2023 Achievement Citation award