BY: SCOTT McCONNAHA, M.A.
It is traditional, in this season of resolutions and fresh starts, to consider the year ahead and begin anticipating potential difficulties and opportunities that may come our way. Leaders in Catholic health care are certainly not strangers to this exercise, and our hope, with this issue of Health Progress, is that readers may discover new ways to address persistent challenges and be inspired to look more closely at topics that will be important for our ministry in the coming year.
Following the theme of looking forward, it is fitting that our special section this issue is devoted to sponsorship. Sponsors continue to help their organizations evolve and adapt in a health care system that doesn't let anyone sit comfortably for very long. Although there have been different approaches to sponsorship, and different models for it, the sponsorship mechanism itself continues to be the vital link between our ministry's rough-hewn beginning and its uncertain, but no less hopeful, future.
This first 2007 issue of Health Progress contains some new regular features that I hope you will find interesting and helpful. Our "Press Conference" is the place where we will present interviews with some of the important and influential people who make a difference in our ministry. And the "Innovation at Work" department is where you can find innovative solutions to common challenges.
We at Health Progress also are looking to the year ahead as one full of challenges and opportunities, but our vision is only as strong as those we serve. Perhaps you can take a moment to point out some things on the horizon we ought to be paying attention to.
Scott McConnaha
Editor, Health Progress
Catholic Health Association
St. Louis