Last summer, the CHA Board of Trustees approved a new vision statement: We will empower bold change to elevate human flourishing.
In announcing our vision statement in Health Progress, I wrote that "leaders from across our membership recognized that in order to serve in dynamic ways and meet the needs of our patients and community, we must change how we approach our work. There was a strong feeling that in this profound time of transformation, we must let go of what has been while actively embracing what is to come."
During the past year, CHA has sought to let go of what has been and embrace what is to come by taking inspiration and direction from the nine words in the vision statement. We have challenged ourselves to truly be bold in not accepting the status quo nor settling for incremental change.
To turn our vision into action, CHA's Board of Trustees recently adopted a new three-year strategic plan that affirms our commitment to caring for the whole person and recognizes that we are intrinsically connected with God, one another and all of creation.
Our strategic plan calls us to envision a reimagined health ecosystem. Health care is not a commodity but a human right integral to a just society and a strong, healthy national community. It also calls us to elevate human flourishing by uniting our members and all people of goodwill to prioritize the dignity of each person and the common good.
The strategic plan is organized under three pillars:
Care For All
This pillar reflects Catholic health care's commitment to human dignity and concern for the poor and vulnerable. It calls us to advocate for access to health care for all individuals and communities consistent with our faith tradition.
To accomplish this, CHA will identify and develop policy options to support universal access and affordability along the full continuum of care. We will also continue working to ensure there is a strong and viable health care safety net to expand access and
equitable care for all.
One way we can advance this work is by continuing to champion health equity policies and working with our members to share and adopt many of the best practices that have been highlighted and developed as part of CHA's We Are Called initiative. Another is by supporting our ministry's deep commitment to providing a wide range of high-quality prenatal, obstetric and postnatal services for women and infants.
Health Reimagined
Reflecting Catholic health care's commitment to justice and stewardship and guided by our values, CHA will lead and advocate for the development of a financially sustainable and innovative system of care that enables optimal health for individuals and communities.
We will begin this important work by convening members and experts to research, evaluate and prioritize alternatives to the current system that establish a sustainable health model that better supports preventive care and the well-being of individuals. Catholic health care has a responsibility to ensure that spiritual and mental health receive the same attention as physical health. Our success in truly re-imagining how health care is provided in the U.S. will require CHA members to be unified in supporting the urgent need to redesign the health care system.
United for Change
Recognizing Catholic health care's commitment to the common good and pluralism, we will seek to unify members and our ecclesial partners in this work. We will also strive to foster greater collaboration with others to empower the change necessary to elevate human flourishing while preserving the mission of Catholic health care.
This work will involve catalyzing members to decisively articulate and demonstrate the identity and value of Catholic health care. We will engage with Catholic partners about the need to support a redesign of the health care system. We will also strive to influence external stakeholders to gain acceptance and appreciation of the value of Catholic health care and our unique contributions to those we serve.
CHA recently launched an ad campaign designed to better communicate Catholic health care's essential contributions to American society. The campaign's message reflects the priorities of our strategic plan and incorporates the tagline, "We care. You flourish."
By following the road map that our new strategic plan lays out, we have a set of directions to help guide our work and achieve our vision for human flourishing.