Mission is the subject of this issue's special section, just as it will
be the theme of the 90th Catholic Health Assembly, which meets in San Diego
in early June. Kim Van Oosten, a CHA communication specialist, is this issue's
guest editor. Writers representing a half-dozen CHA members describe the mechanisms
their organizations have created to help ensure the continuation of their founders'
missions. The organizations involved are Catholic Healthcare Partners, Cincinnati;
Wheaton Franciscan Services, Wheaton, IL; Dubuis Health System, Houston; Sisters
of Charity Health System, Lewiston, ME; St. Mary's Health System, Evansville;
and Trinity Health, Novi, MI.
Canon Law Series
Beginning with this issue, Health Progress will feature a series
of articles concerning canon law as it applies to health care. The editors are
happy to announce that Fr. Francis G. Morrisey, OMI, PhD, professor of canon
law at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario, will serve as the series'
general editor.
For each issue, Fr. Morrisey will invite a guest to discuss some aspect of
canon law. The inaugural article—which provides answers to three frequently
asked questions on the topic—is by Fr. Kevin D. O'Rourke, OP, JCD,
professor of ethics, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago.
Genetic Medicine Series
This issue also introduces another series, one concerning genetic medicine
and ethics. In the first installment, Jeffrey G. Shaw, a genetic counselor at
the Cancer Center, Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, Colorado Springs, CO,
offers an introduction to genetics. Each subsequent installment will feature
a dialogue between a clinician and an ethicist.