Log in

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.

"Everyone brings something with them when they come to work," said Odesa Stapleton, chief diversity and inclusion officer at Bon Secours Mercy Health in Cincinnati. People are a collection of different work styles, lifestyles, needs and preferences, and it's up to organizations to help them all get along.

Health care is multifaceted, but the overall goal is to help people live their healthiest lives, regardless of who they are or where they live. This takes many forms, from prevention and health education, to clinical care and connection, to social and community-based services. Understanding patients, their cultures and preferences, their barriers and levels of health literacy is part of the equation that must be considered when working toward this goal.

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.

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.1 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.

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?

Even though most of us may not recognize it, much of our personal and professional lives are spent in regular discernment. Should I let my child have 10 more minutes of screen time? Should I have one of the cookies sitting in the break room? How should I respond to my colleague whose demands are routinely unreasonable? Our days are filled with decisions that are not overly consequential, but that, when taken together, shape how we live and who we become in consequential ways.

There is much more to Angelíca Zuniga than what she has lived through, but she shares her story to be of service to others. Today, she is a community leader who advocates for vulnerable people.

I'm not the world's largest fan of "free" hotel breakfasts. A free breakfast is, of course, better than no breakfast and sounds good in theory. But hopes are dashed with every lift of a chafing dish lid. Rubbery, bland eggs, leaden pastries that couldn't show their faces in Paris, and coffee that simpers rather than shines turn the idea of a hot, delicious morning meal into wishful thinking.

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.

Blank stares, a slight "hmm" and the inevitable "What is that?" are the usual responses I receive when I tell a stranger that I am an ethicist. More recently, people tend to have some sort of inkling that such a profession exists, as they might have read media articles during and since the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting some ethical dilemmas.

Once your eye catches the movement of the Spirit, it cannot be unseen. In recent months, my eyes spotted a peculiarity among leading characters in multiple films. At least three films this year featured a notable Catholic as the lead role. Cabrini opened in theaters in March. This independent film, about the first canonized U.S. citizen, traces Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini's journey from Italy to New York City, where she tangles with the canny mayor and advocates for housing and health care for orphaned and immigrant children. Two months later, Wildcat, about the American Catholic writer Flannery O'Connor, opened in theaters.

You may have read about the three initial "Es" for building a framework for global health partnerships in my recent Thinking Globally column in the Health Progress Summer 2024 issue. It is a continuing journey, but I had an "aha!" moment at the culmination of several recent trips that led me to Uganda, Italy and Ukraine. All the trips focused on global health partnerships but from very different perspectives.

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.

Beyond the walls of hospitals and clinics exists an extensive network of organizations and collaborative efforts to create healthy communities and promote health equity. Often, behind the scenes, community health professionals and their partners work diligently to identify and address the root causes of illness and partner to create solutions that put the most vulnerable on a path toward health and wellness.

Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

In our daily lives, we are often faced with challenging conversations with co-workers, family and friends. In these moments, we can become defensive, losing sight of shared values, goals and ideas. Have these discussions caused friction? Are there relationships strained by differing viewpoints? Have you grown frustrated with leaders?

Last summer, the CHA Board of Trustees approved a new vision statement: We will empower bold change to elevate human flourishing.

Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan, creates groundbreaking programs that connect the medical facility with the community.

Recognizing that whole-patient care hinges on the availability of services for both body and mind, many Catholic health care systems have directed renewed focus to their mental and behavioral health delivery — particularly since COVID-19.