Execs build spiritual muscle, physical fitness 4-5 PERIODICAL RATE PUBLICATION
JANUARY 15, 2020 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 1
By JULIE MINDA
Joby Brown, a staff chaplain at Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Ozaukee, visits Elroy Knepprath in that Mequon, Wisconsin, facility. Oncology nurse Shana Risse is at left. A focus of Brown’s role is to provide spiritual care to patients.
Providence partners maximize outreach to the poor through collaboration Health and social service providers team up to improve wellness of individuals and groups in Pacific Northwest
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June Husted cooks a meal with fresh ingredients purchased with her Veggie Rx vouchers. Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital, other health providers and local farmers in the Columbia Gorge region in Oregon and Washington launched the program.
Photo Credit
According to a sampling of chaplains in the Catholic health ministry, a growing number of patients say they either don’t believe in God, or they selfidentify as spiritual people who believe in God but are not affiliated with any particular religion. To make sure that patients can get spiritual comfort to lessen their suffering, should they so desire, no matter their level of religiosity or spirituality, chaplains said they have been tailoring their word choice, communications style and pastoral care services to
the individual. “We meet people where they are, not where we think they should be,” said Art Maddock, manager of pastoral services for Mercy Northwest Arkansas, part of the Chesterfield, Missouri-based Mercy system. Ministry chaplains who spoke to Catholic Health World said while Catholic patients may be spiritually fortified by attending Mass or participating in the sacraments, people with no formal faith tradition may find transcendence in
Josh Kohanek /© Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Ministry chaplains reach out to nonreligious patients
Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal
By KEN LEISER
LOOKING GOOD INSIDE AND OUT Spencer Johnson styles Jeremiah Edwards’ hair at JP Hair Design in Madison, Wisconsin. Edwards faces the entrance to the Men’s Health & Education Center, which opened inside the barbershop in 2016. The center, funded through grants from SSM Health, provides health information and convenient health screenings to black men in a setting where they feel relaxed and welcome. Story PAGE 8.
An elderly woman faced foreclosure because of unpaid property taxes in rural Hood River County, Oregon. A county commissioner told the county’s health department director about the risk of eviction. The health department passed word to the nonprofit Columbia Gorge Health Council. Among its many services, that council’s Bridges to Health Pathways program coordinates access to health care and other services for vulnerable people in the sprawling Columbia Gorge region about 60 miles east of Portland, Oregon, said Coco Yackley, the council’s executive director. Columbia Gorge encompasses five counties in north-central Oregon and two counties in south-central Washington state that all straddle the Columbia River. The Continued on 6
By MARY DELACH LEONARD
The medical professionals of Providence are the stars of Future of Health Radio, the health care system’s new streaming radio station. Doctors, nurses, therapists and dietitians take turns behind the microphone answering questions from people who tune in for advice from trusted experts: Will the flu shot give you the flu? Is diet soda worse for you than regular soda? What’s the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes? “What we’re hearing is not just ‘I have questions,’ but ‘I have questions, and I want the answers from somebody I trust,’” said
Mary Renouf, who helped develop the concept for Providence. “We have such a deep roster of clinical experts — our doctors, our nurses, our fitness experts, our dietitians — we could cover a new topic every hour of every day.” Providence partnered with Dash Radio, a digital broadcasting platform, to create Future of Health Radio. Listeners can access it online at DashRadio.com/Future ofHealth or through the Dash Radio app. Programs cover all facets of health care — from emergency care to pregnancy to timely topics trending on social media like fasting or the keto diet. After programs air, they remain available as podcasts. Continued on 2
Mary Renouf
Providence’s Future of Health streaming radio station tunes into receptive audience
Dash Radio founder Scott Keeney, also known as DJ Skee, interviews Providence’s Dora Barilla, center, and Dr. Karen Boudreau for Future of Health Radio. Barilla is vice president, Community Health Investment, and Boudreau is senior vice president of Enterprise Care Management for the health system.
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CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD January 15, 2020
Prayers answered: CHA updates popular section of website If you’ve found the prayers section of CHA’s website a bit of a challenge to navigate in the past, check it out now. The section has been redesigned to make it more user-friendly and visually appealing. Prayer pages regularly rank among the most visited on the website, says Nick Osterholt, CHA editor of digital communications. But, he says, “The way we grouped prayers before, it didn’t really match how they were used.” Now the prayers are organized into categories; for example, under “CHA Prayer Library” are subheadings that include “For Patients & Families,” “For Meetings” and “Social Justice.” “Calendar of Prayers” links prayers to holy days and events. A more robust search function allows users to call up prayers using key words such as birth or mental illness. Osterholt says that feature was specifically requested by regular users of the page. Carrie Meyer McGrath, CHA’s director of mission services, says, “Users should be able to find everything with a click or two.” Meyer McGrath was among those who oversaw the revisions. She got input from other mission professionals, including Jim Schellman, vice president for mission integration at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, who provided advice as well as several new prayers for the site. The devotions in the prayer library cover a wide sweep of topics, including addiction and natural disasters, and events, such as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and World Day of Social Justice.
Future of Health Radio From page 1
Future of Health Radio is the only brandowned health care radio streaming station, and is just one more way for Providence to connect with the communities it serves, said Renouf, who hosts some of the segments. “One of the things we’re very focused on is health for a better world and really trying to be Renouf innovative,” said Renouf, who worked in corporate social and brand media before joining Providence in 2017. She is an associate vice president of social and influencer strategy.
Growing audience Beyond its educational value, the programming builds relationships with consumers before they need health care — and that includes millennials, who typically don’t have primary care physicians, Renouf said. “When they actually need health care is the first time that they’re really engaging with the system,” she said. “That was one of the reasons we said, ‘OK, let’s go find them where they already are.’” Future of Health Radio taps into the
At chausa.org/prayers, CHA website visitors will find prayers organized by categories, and also can search for prayers by key word.
Among the prayers that are consistently in demand are intercessions appropriate before a meeting or a surgery. A click on the “For Meetings” icon now brings up a wide selection. The library has a quick link to CHA prayer cards. The cards can be down-
loaded or ordered as print materials. Also highlighted are links to the Health Progress “Prayer Services,” a feature that runs in every edition of the CHA journal, and another to “Video & Audio Reflections.” There are almost 500 prayers in the
growing number of people, particularly younger listeners, who access streaming radio and podcasts on their own terms — in their cars, or at work or the gym, Renouf said. In 2018, more than half of the U.S. population had listened to a podcast, up from 44 percent the year before, according to Edison Research. Current Future of Health programs include: “Talk with a Doc,” featuring Providence medical experts who tackle wideranging health questions, including those submitted by listeners through social media. “Future of Health,” a discussion of health care trends and news. “Talk 2 Be Well” gives voice to teens who participate in conversations about mental health. “Do Tell Mama,” which focuses on pregnancy and postpartum topics.
Sherwood, Oregon, has participated on to Future of Health Radio “Talk with a Doc.” She views it as one more in his car. tool for educating people about health “There’s tons of inforcare. mation and self-help “I love the idea of reaching people in a available on the Internet, larger way than just the one-on-one that I but I think the fact that need to do in the clinic,” Dunlap said. “And this is a trusted source it is the same sort of stuff that people do Anaya — that is what separates ask me in clinic.” it,” Anaya said. “You can Medical practitioners also learn from have people tell you certain things. You the listeners, Dunlap said. can look up things. Hear people talk“We did a segment on preventative care, ing. But when you actually have experts, and it was really interesting to hear what that definitely makes you feel more people wanted to know comfortable.” “There’s tons of about what is involved Anaya said he is parin a preventative care ticularly interested in information and self- episodes that focus on visit,” she said. “It made me more understanding help available on the mental health because of where people’s apprehe has dealt with some Internet, but I think hensions may be and of those issues in his what their questions own life. the fact that this is a are.” “It’s almost like vertrusted source — that is bal medication,” he Taking the show said. “To be able to what separates it.” on the road have a platform that Some Future of caters to that. I mean, — Julio Anaya Health broadcasts are that’s priceless.” recorded at the Dash Radio studio in Los Dash has more than 80 stations Angeles, but Renouf and her staff also set that produce original content with no up temporary studios at the health sys- commercials or subscription fees. An tem’s hospitals “because we use really archive of past Future of Health shows solid clinical experts and their time is so can be found at Providence.org/Future tight, trying to get them out of the office ofHealthRadio or by searching “Future or out of a clinical setting and into a radio of Health” on most major podcast platstation was really challenging.” Another forms, including Apple Podcasts and key to successful broadcasts is briefing the Spotify. Listeners can reach the podcast experts so they know what to expect dur- staff on social media with the hashtag ing the recording sessions, she said. #FutureofHealth for a chance to hear their questions answered in an episode. Words that heal Providence recently added another Future of Health launched in Novem- show to its streaming programming. ber, but it has been in the works for two “Shop With Your Doc” enlists nutrition years, Renouf said. It was originally devel- experts to answer listeners’ questions on oped as a single show and then as Real Life healthy eating and grocery shopping. Radio, a pilot station aimed at increasing Providence, which is rebranding from awareness of mental health and wellness. Providence St. Joseph Health, has 51 hosAlthough the numbers for podcast pitals in seven western states — Alaska, downloads are just starting to come in, California, Montana, New Mexico, Orethey indicate that the Future of Health gon, Texas and Washington with system audience is growing, Renouf said. offices based in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Julio Anaya, 37, an entertainment proj- Calif. ect manager from San Jose, Calif., listens
Two-way communication The Future of Health streaming channel is live 24/7. When the talk shows aren’t airing, the station plays instrumental music and sleep and Dunlap meditation sounds. Mary Ann Dunlap, a nurse practitioner with the Providence Medical Group in
Editor’s Note Catholic Health World is making some changes in 2020 in order to make fuller use of web-based technology to enhance our storytelling. Readers who consume Catholic Health World online at chausa.org/chworld will have noticed a growing number of our story packages include video and audio recordings, and online-only copy and links to background material. To allow us to do more of this multimedia storytelling, Catholic Health World will reduce our print issues to 20 from 22 this year. We’re inspired by the mission of Catholic health care and we’ll continue to tell stories about exceptionalism in the Catholic health ministry in print and online. We invite readers to share story ideas with us at newsdesk@chausa.org. — JUDITH VANDEWATER
CHA online library and the collection continues to grow. Meyer McGrath says she welcomes submissions from members. She wants the library to continue to evolve to better meet users’ needs. “It’s a real-time resource that our members know is right there,” she says.
January 15, 2020 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD
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Twenty years in, kids still have fun learning at Health Exploration Station The interactive science center gets a refresh at St. Joseph Mercy Canton Health Center
schoolers, elementary and middle school students and high school students to the center on field trips. “Elementary students are our primary audience, but everybody comes here,” she says. “We see teachers from public schools and private schools from communities in a one-hour radius from Canton. We also welcome homeschooled students and students with special needs.”
By PATRICIA CORRIGAN
Health, safety, and physical, emotional and social well-being — those are the goals of the St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station in Canton, Michigan. TRINITY The interactive health eduHEALTH cation center is celebrating 20 years of helping students learn about the human body while having fun. Kids who visit can climb through a model of an ear, learn from an outsized plastic nose just how far a sneeze travels and pretend to be a piece of food sliding through a model of the digestive system. They also can unzip a 5-foot-tall fabric doll’s chest and pull out assorted organs to examine. The doll, named “Stuffie,” sports blue hair and a big smile, and it’s one of the most popular exhibits. Older students may study how smoking affects the lungs, learn about auto safety, simulate a brain operation or play with a marble maze that highlights the importance of making safe choices. The Health Exploration Station also sponsors parent education programs. At “Drugs 101,” parents visit a mock bedroom with 70 examples of drug paraphernalia and common items used to hide drugs. Another popular program is “Vaping 101,” featured in the April 15, 2019, issue of Catholic Health World. “This work is a passion for me,” says Cheryl Phillips, the longtime program coordinator who also helped design the exhibits. “In Michigan’s schools, health education is not a required course, and I think anything we can do to advocate for it is beneficial.”
Field trip favorite The museum and two classrooms that make up the Health Exploration Station fill 3,500 square feet on the lower level of St. Joseph Mercy Canton Health Center, an outpatient facility that is part of the Saint
Ruby and Bennett Kang add body part magnets to a magnetic mounted body systems book at the St. Joseph Mercy Health Exploration Station.
Dental and mental hygiene In addition to the interactive exhibits in the museum, 20 different health education programs are available in the classrooms. “The younger kids can learn about how the body works or the importance of handwashing or brushing teeth,” Phillips says. “The upper elementary students see programs on how our organs function. Older students also learn about the body and about substance abuse prevention. The teachers select the programs.” Karen Kliber, a kindergarten teacher at St. Anselm Catholic School in nearby Dearborn Heights, Michigan, has taken students to the Exploration Station since it
Joseph Mercy Health System. The health center funds the museum, which is open five days a week. Visitors pay a $4 admission fee. For the museum’s 20th anniversary, St. Joseph Mercy made major upgrades of several exhibits and completely overhauled others. “We’ve revamped the nutrition area, making it interactive,” says Phillips. “Now we have puzzle pieces for the different food groups and kids can choose from a variety of options to put together a healthy plate. Also, some of our programs were running on older software, and we’ve updated them.” Phillips, who has a master’s degree in education and previously taught middle school, says teachers from across southeastern From left, Exploration Station visitors Allison Phillips, Lauren Phillips and Alexan Michigan bring pre- Kazarian guide a ball through a Safety Maze game at the station.
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first opened. “It’s a phenomenal place, and the kids all love it,” Kliber says. “We have a sophisticated kindergarten program at St. Anselm. When we get into a topic, we don’t just skim over it — we really get into it. Field trips to the museum are part of that.” Phillips also gives presentations outside the museum. “The Health Exploration Station comes to us,” says Randy Root, executive director of the Huron Valley Community Coalition, an organization focused on reducing substance abuse. “Over the past three or four years, they’ve come many times to share programs with our community. Parents especially appreciate ‘Drugs 101,’ which covers everything they need to know and is presented in terms they can digest. The data is important, but parents also seem to value the tips on how to talk to kids about drug and alcohol abuse.” Root’s organization also presents “Vaping 101” at assemblies for middle school students. That’s none too early — Phillips reports that half a million middle school students in the U.S. are using e-cigarettes. “Cheryl’s presentation includes skits, which lighten the mood, and she and her co-worker Gretchen Nachazel always hit it out of the park with the kids,” Root says. “They pay attention and they learn something.”
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A trip down the alimentary canal Adults and some students — even the younger ones — often provide feedback for Phillips. “One of the most fun parts of the job is to see the thank-you notes and drawings the kids send,” she says. “They tell us they liked listening to their heartbeat or what they learned about food as it moved through the body.” Parents contact her, too. “One mom wrote to say that after her son saw here what smoking does to lungs, he came home and asked her to stop.” Phillips’ commitment to health education is affirmed every day at work. “What I love best about what I do is seeing the expressions on the kids’ faces when they learn something new,” she says. “That is the most rewarding part of my job.”
Catholic Health World (ISSN 87564068) is published semimonthly, except monthly in January, April July and October and copyrighted © by the Catholic Health Association of the United States. POSTMASTER: Address all subscription orders, inquiries, address changes, etc., to Kim Hewitt, 4455 Woodson Road, St. Louis, MO 63134-3797; phone: 314-253-3421; email: khewitt@chausa. org. Periodicals postage rate is paid at St. Louis and additional mailing offices. Annual subscription rates: CHA members free, others $55 and foreign $55. Opinions, quotes and views appearing in Catholic Health World do not necessarily reflect those of CHA and do not represent an endorsement by CHA. Acceptance of advertising for publication does not constitute approval or endorse ment by the publication or CHA. All advertising is subject to review before acceptance. Vice President Communications and Marketing Brian P. Reardon
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CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD January 15, 2020
For ministry executives, fitness includes spiritual and physical health Executives take a holistic approach to staying healthy that includes various forms of exercise and mindfulness practices
Laura Kaiser President and chief executive officer SSM Health, St. Louis
By LISA EISENHAUER
Andrew Knapik Photography
The start of a new year is often the time when people resolve to ramp up their fitness routines or find ways to better balance their work and home lives. Here’s how several executives within Catholic health ministries tend to their physical, mental and spiritual well-being.
Rob Casalou
President and chief executive officer Trinity Health Michigan & Southeast (U.S.) Regions, Canton, Michigan Rob Casalou doesn’t pressure his colleagues to join his cycling team, but he’s not shy about mentioning to them that he has a few extra uniforms. “Once in a while I’ll get a taker,” says Casalou. He is always eager to expand the team, already more than 55 members strong. Team members are regulars in the 300mile, three-day WishCasalou A-Mile ride, the major fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Michigan. Casalou’s on the board of the nonprofit, which raises money to grant the wishes of critically ill children. Casalou, 60, says he started cycling more than 15 years ago; fitness has always
Kat Nelson
Chief quality officer Mercy, east region, St. Louis At 46, Kat Nelson joined the Mercy Fit Club, hoping the community of runners would inspire her to finish her first 5K. It worked, and not just well, but phenomenally so for Nelson. After completing that first 5K eight Nelson years ago, she upped her exercise game considerably. She resumed the cycling she had given up years ago and added it to a workout regimen that included endurance swimming to prepare for a sprint triathlon — a 0.465-mile swim, 3.1-mile run and 12.5-mile bike ride. “The feeling of accomplishment of crossing that finish line was like nothing else,” Nelson recalls of her first of many triathlons. As she was turning 50, she cranked her workout up another notch and entered her first half-Ironman, a
been a priority for him. “I consider it vital to good mental health, not just physical health,” he says. In college, he played rugby. For years after that, he was a competitive racquetball player until a shoulder injury made him hang up his racquet. That’s when he bought his first road bike and fell in love with cycling. These days he also runs, but he spends 10-12 hours a week pedaling, and more when the weather is good. “There’s no better place to pray, there’s no better place to kind of get in touch with God than when you’re on your bike on a country road with miles ahead of you and you can clear your mind,” he says. Casalou believes any executive, no matter how demanding that person’s schedule, can and should make time for fitness. “If it’s a priority, like anything else that’s a priority, whether it’s the job or the family, you will make time for it,” he says.
competition with a 1.2-mile swim, a 13.1-mile run and a 56-mile bike ride. In fall 2019, she went to Waco, Texas, to compete in her fourth. “Really, from that Fit Club on, I have added this to my life,” Nelson says. “It really has changed in many ways how I live life. It’s given me a lot of benefits that I didn’t know I would experience.” One of those benefits is an overall sense of well-being. And that feeling, she says, is bolstered when she is able to run or cycle in the woods or as the sun is rising or setting. Working out in a natural setting makes her mindful of being part of something much bigger than herself. Through her training, she says she’s forged strong social connections to workout partners — people whom she otherwise might have never known save for the shared pursuit of fitness. Nelson says she competes to challenge herself to reach a new time or distance milestone or to test her skills in a new setting. “It’s really about your own personal best,” she says.
Laura Kaiser was an active kid. She swam, rode her bike for fun, and ran track in high school. At the suggestion of her father, she decided to try a triathlon. Kaiser’s father, a competitive marathon runner, was there to cheer her on at that first race in 1983. She has since comKaiser peted in dozens of the combination running, cycling and swimming events. These days, however, she usually opts for the sprint triathlons with half the distances of the standard ones. “And I do way more walking than running anymore,” Kaiser says. Kaiser, 58, has stuck to her fitness regimen despite having had hip replacement surgery about six years ago. Her routine includes lifting weights and, in more recent years, stretching and yoga to keep herself limber. She quips that one reason she stays active is: “I’m nicer when I exercise.” She’s been blessed with good health and energy, which she uses in her work and in the pursuit of well-being. For Kaiser, exercise is just one aspect of overall wellness. The others are spiritual, intellectual, social and emotional. “If you have all of those in balance, you can be pretty centered,” she says. “When one of those gets out of balance, things start clanking, at least I feel that.” She starts her day early with a daily prayer and devotional while she’s on her exercise bike. That time for exercise and prayer is a part of her routine she never misses, although sometimes it can be as brief as 10 minutes. Other pieces of her wellness routine have to be scheduled within her busy day, and she’s careful to see that they are. Maintaining optimal physical and mental well-being requires being mindful
John Jurczyk
Senior vice president of Covenant Health, president of St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, New Hampshire One of the reasons John Jurczyk loves his job is that it offers plenty of variety. “You could never be bored,” he says. He also relishes variety in his workouts,
to carve time out for self-care. Her advice? “I would say schedule it and be unrelenting. You have a responsibility to be your best self in order to fulfill your life’s work.”
and he says that’s why he came to appreciate having a personal trainer who crafts an ever-changing mix of exercises for him. “I used to work out without a trainer,” Jurczyk says. “I would find a routine and I would just stick to it and do that routine every time I went to the gym for years and years and I would be disappointed with the results.” Jurczyk, 57, says the trainer he has worked Jurczyk with since 2014 changes up his cardio and weight-training workouts in ways that are interesting, challenging and appropriate for his fitness level. His workouts keep him energized and provide an outlet for the stress and anxiety inherent in a demanding job, helping him stay mentally healthy. His schedule doesn’t allow him to spend 12 hours working out every week as he once did, but he still squeezes in three hour-long sessions with his trainer. Despite being a gym regular for a decade, Jurczyk calls himself a latecomer to fitness. He long struggled with his weight, the result of a childhood diet heavy on meat and starches and low on vegetables and fruit. He’s come to see exercise, a healthy diet and sleep as key to ensuring that he has the energy and clarity to meet the demands of his job as a servant leader. Jurczyk says he derives spiritual wellness from pursuing the ministry’s mission. “It is very rewarding,” he says. “It propels me.”
January 15, 2020 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD
Dr. JP Valin
Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM
Executive vice president and chief clinical officer SCL Health, Broomfield, Colorado Dr. JP Valin thinks it is essential for people in high-stress health care jobs to maintain a healthy work/life balance. “Having an outlet where you can decompress and reconnect with the broader world and yourself is really important.” Valin, 49, views fitness Valin as a critical part of that balance. He pursues it in a variety of ways, including running, biking and downhill and back country skiing near his home in Boulder, Colorado. For the last three years his favorite fitness pursuit has been rowing, a sport he took up after his sons joined a team while in high school. “I love the fact that it’s total body,” Valin says. “It’s arms and legs but also your mind has to be in it.” In the warmer months, he’s up early twice a week to row before heading to work. “Doing it at 5:30 in the morning as the sun’s rising over the mountains and the reservoir is totally peaceful and the water is still, there’s something calming and transfixing,” Valin says. “It’s just a great way to start the day.” Most often his only goal when rowing is serenity. On weekends, he sometimes
CHA president and chief executive officer, St. Louis Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, traces her love of being physically active back to her childhood, when she played outdoor games with her brothers and neighborhood pals. “I didn’t see it as fitness, I was just having fun with my friends,” says Sr. Mary, 61. Those fun and Sr. Mary games helped mold a
enters solo or quad boat competitions. Valin also pursues spiritual health through mindfulness and meditation. Those practices, he says, give him “an opportunity to reflect on my personal priorities as well as my broader role” in SCL Health’s ministry. He encourages everyone on his clini-
Chief legal officer Bon Secours Mercy Health, Cincinnati
Peter Powers
Chief executive officer St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, part of CommonSpirit Health For Peter Powers, getting regular exercise is a must. “No matter how busy I am, I always feel so much better after I exercise,” says Powers, 40. “It helps me think clearly and deal with stress. It’s very much a part of my daily routine, whether I have to wake up extra early or work out extra late.” Powers His favorite means of staying fit are cycling and running. And when he can exercise outdoors, the beauty of the mountains feeds his spirit. “It’s not just the fitness piece, it’s the body, mind,
cal team to find outlets outside of work that bring physical, intellectual and spiritual fulfillment. Finding the right mix will pay off professionally and personally, he says: “You’ll wake up and say, ‘I do feel better, I do feel more balanced, I feel more resilient.’” Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, right, on a hiking trip to Arizona with her lifelong friends.
Michael Bezney
For Michael Bezney, one key to staying in shape has been to surround himself with the right people. Those include his executive assistant, who holds his lunch hour sacrosanct so he can spend it Bezney at the gym lifting weights, and his wife, who he says “drags me on hikes.” Bezney, 55, also credits a random encounter for one of his longtime fitness channels. He’d just started law school at the University of Pennsylvania and was sitting at a bar with his fiancé (now wife), when three big men approached to ask whether he was a Penn student. One asked his weight. “I said ‘260’ and they said ‘Good, we need someone for the rugby team.’” Although he’d never played rugby in his life, Bezney got drafted on the spot and ended up playing the sport through three years of law school and well beyond, until arthritis in his shoulders made it too
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painful. When the pain got so bad that he needed both shoulders replaced, Bezney says the first orthopedic surgeon he saw told him he’d have to give up weight lifting, his
spirit of being out on the trails and being connected with the outdoors,” he says. He added swimming to his regimen so he could compete in triathlons. These days he estimates he puts in eight10 hours a week on the trails or, if need be, on the treadmill or exercise bike. He still enters the occasional race, but now his fitness regimen is more about his overall wellness. In the past year, he’s also added the martial art of Brazilian jui-jitsu. Powers hopes his commitment to fitness inspires his colleagues and community members to prioritize their health. “I think we, as health care leaders, should model the behaviors we are trying to encourage in others,” he says. “I am a firm believer that diet and exercise would almost eliminate the health care cost crisis overnight if we were serious about prevention and wellness.”
workout of choice at the time. Instead, Bezney went to a surgeon whose patients included members of the Cincinnati Bengals football team. “He said, ‘I’ll have you back in the gym in three months,’ and he did,” Bezney recalls. After his shoulder replacements, Bezney added boxing and mixed martial arts to his fitness routine for a few years. But now he mostly sticks with the weights, and those occasional hikes with his wife in the Colorado mountains, where they have a getaway place. Bezney says fitness is a component of holistic wellbeing. His training regimen bolsters him physically, mentally and spiritually and helps him cope with life’s demands. He considers himself fortunate to work for a company where employees can openly nurture their spirituality during the work day through prayer and reflections. “There aren’t many places left in the U.S. where you can be a spiritual person at work,” he says.
formidable athlete, who played on the field hockey and softball teams in college and for years afterward. “Although I no longer engage in organized sports, I keep active in other ways through walking, weights and stretching,” she says. “In the winter months, at the end of the day you’ll find me in the office fitness room.” But she’d prefer not to do her exercising in a workout room. “I enjoy outdoor activities,” she says. “Nature feeds me.” Indoors or out, she says exercise helps her manage stress and the physical demands of a packed travel schedule, as she attends meetings and calls on CHA members during her inaugural year in the association’s top post. “I start my day with prayer and end it with some form of exercise,” she says. “Both experiences are needed for me to stay centered and to be mentally sharp.” Attention to nutrition figures in too. Her kale salads are a trademark of her brownbag lunches in the CHA employee dining room. Staying fit, Sr. Mary says, has to be a personal priority, because there will always be competing claims on time. “Someone once told me that I needed to schedule time for myself, so I encourage others to make an appointment with yourself,” she says. “Put time on your calendar in order to ensure you have time for what you need.”
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CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD January 15, 2020
Collaboration in care of the poor rural region is defined by the extremes of wealth and poverty. Its population of about 84,000 is spread over 10,284 square miles — an area roughly the size of Connecticut. Bridges to Health assigned a community health worker to assist the woman, who’d recently been widowed and was socially isolated. The community health worker reached out to local philanthropists, one of whom paid the woman’s back taxes just 48 hours before the deadline in May 2018, buying her time to stabilize her housing situation. But more hurdles lie ahead. The widow, who was in her 70s, hadn’t been to doctor in 13 years and was hesitant to seek care. To calm her apprehensions, the community health worker went with the woman to an initial medical appointment, said Suzanne Cross, senior program manager for Bridges to Health. With the encouragement of the community health worker, the woman took steps to break through her isolation. She reestablished connections with her church, and began participating in church-sponsored gatherings. The community health worker helped the widow tick major projects off her mustdo list. For example, the woman couldn’t get homeowner’s insurance because her roof was in disrepair; but, after a snakeskin was found in the attic, roofers couldn’t safely start work until an exterminator was called to investigate. (No snakes were found.) Cross said the community health worker located community programs to pay for the exterminator’s inspection and the new roof. Yackley said collaboration among health and social service providers is the key to efforts to bridge health disparities in a region where one out of five residents report having insufficient food.
Sum of its parts Brought together by an Oregon law passed in 2012 aimed at addressing health disparities, health care organizations — including Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital — and social welfare activists have taken collaboration to a level that has not been seen before in the Gorge. The Columbia Gorge Coordinated Care Organization they created has partnered on community health needs assessments and care, services and programs to address service gaps and priorities identified in those assessments.
Community health worker Vitalina Rodriguez, left, interacts with Dalia Castillo and her baby, Altana Delgado, at the family’s home in the Columbia Gorge region east of Portland, Oregon. Rodriguez works for The Next Door Inc., one of the organizations that collaborates in the Bridges to Health Pathways.
The Columbia Gorge Health Council governs the coordinated care organization, allocating funding and convening partners in efforts to improve the health of the region. In 2016, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recognized the power of that collaboration with its Culture of Health Prize. (The national competition is held annually to recognize communities that work together to improve health care.) So far, the Columbia Gorge Health Council’s partner agencies have developed 40 new initiatives and trained 100 community health workers, who are employed by agencies throughout the Gorge in both health care and social services. Many of the community health workers provide outreach to poor Latino farmworker families who tend the region’s orchards. (The region is a major producer of peaches, apples and cherries.) Cross said a grant writer whose salary is paid by Providence Hood River has brought in over $10 million to support those initiatives to improve health and wellness in the region. “To me, the real gem in all this work is just this culture of working together,” said Mark Thomas, chief mission officer and spiritual care manager for Providence Hood River. The 2012 state law laid the foundation for 16 coordinated care organizations that would operate across the state as part of the state’s Medicaid model. In addition to a governing council, each coordinated care organization also is guided by a community advisory council that, by Oregon statute, includes Medicaid recipients as voting members. The organizations are tasked with identifying the most pressing health
Josh Kohanek /© Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
From page 1
needs of their respective regions, prioritizing their efforts and implementing action plans to respond to the community needs.
Level field The Columbia Gorge Coordinated Care Organization kicked off its first health needs assessment at the Corner Pocket Bar in Lyle, Washington, a town picked for its central location. Thomas stressed the importance of a meeting place that was convenient to all, in part, to make clear that no one institution “was so big and important that everyone needed to come to us.” Under the egalitarian structure, collaborators agree to meet the most stringent regulatory requirements of any member. For example, Oregon law requires coordinated care organizations to complete a needs assessment every five years. But Providence and the three other hospitals in the Columbia Gorge also must assess community needs every three years to comply with federal regulations, so, to prevent redundancy, the collaborative follows the three-year timetable. Following its first assessment, the council determined that some of the most
pressing community concerns included insecurity over food, jobs, transportation and housing. There was a need to improve access to dental and mental health care and to better coordinate across health care and social services. A large segment of the population reported suffering food insecurity, and addressing hunger and malnutrition was identified as a priority. Coalition partners, including Providence, other health providers and local farmers established The Gorge Food Coalition and that group launched a Veggie Rx program. Qualifying patients get monthly vouchers to buy fruits and vegetables. The program “blew up much faster” and benefited more people than originally forecast,” said Paul Lindberg, a collective impact health specialist with the United Way of the Columbia Gorge. (Lindberg is paid by Providence to write grants for community organizations.) The Gorge Grown Food Network, which runs the Veggie Rx program, began a grantfunded voucher program in June 2018 for pregnant women enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. The women can select produce at farmer’s markets during the season to supplement their WIC benefits. During the winter months, participants can opt to have a produce box delivered to their doorsteps twice a month. Columbia Gorge is now on its third health needs assessment, and is continuing to refine its information gathering process. Survey questions are written in English and Spanish. Cross said questions have been rewritten to ensure they are clear to people who read at a sixth-grade level. Thomas said the power in collaboration is that the collective energy and impact is greater than the sum of siloed efforts to aid the vulnerable. “In a personal way,” he added, “I feel the strength of the sense of mission in our community as strongly as I feel it in the Catholic organization I work with.”
Bridges to Health Pathways
A cross-sector collaborative approach to providing community care Bridges to Health Pathways A cross-sector collaborative approach to providing community care coordination coordination
Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital
Y.E.S.- Youth Empowerment Shelter
Y.E.S.- Youth Empowerment Shelter HUB: Columbia
The Next Door, Inc.
Providence Hood Hood RiverRiver Co. Health Memorial Department Hospital North Central Public Health District
Gorge Health Council
MidColumbia Chidren's CouncilHead Start
The Next Door, Inc.
Mid-
MidColumbia Medical Center
ColumbiaColumbia HUB: Housing Authority Gorge Health Council
Community Care Coordinators Hood Co. Health (CCC’s) areRiver Community WorkersHealth or equivalent and are employed by the Community Care Department Agencies (clinics, hospitals, health departments, social service agencies) and help coordinate needed services for clients & their North households.
Central
Agencies contract with the HUB to Public get paid when evidence- based Health outcomes are met.
District
MidMidCurrent Target Population: HOUSING CHALLENGED Columbia Columbia Chidren's Housing MidCouncilAuthority Columbia Head Start Medical Center
Community Care Coordinators (CCC’s) are Community Health Workers or equivalent and are employed by the Community Care Agencies (clinics, hospitals, health departments, social service agencies) and help coordinate needed services for clients & their households. Agencies contract with the HUB to get paid when evidence- based outcomes are met.
CHAUSA.ORG/ASSEMBLY A central council coordinates the activity of partner organizations in the Bridges to Health Pathways program.
Current Target Population: HOUSING CHALLENGED
ATLANTA / JUNE 7–9
January 15, 2020 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD
Ministering to the nonreligious From page 1
music, poetry or even in a spirited conversation about their favorite sport. Chaplains said they strive to understand the gestalt of their individual patients and connect in ways that are meaningful to those patients. “Chaplains are here to listen, offer support, perhaps even make a plan to survive the day and ultimately aid in well-being and ongoing ministry of grace and compassion,” whatever the patients’ religious background or lack thereof, said Charlie Dey, team leader of the pastoral care department at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. Nathaniel Blanton Hibner, CHA director of ethics, said that, of course, even atheists ponder deep existential questions about suffering, human existence and the meaning of their lives. “They may not have the same vocabulary or tradition to define or label it,” he said. Maddock said that is where adaptive communications comes in to play: “We
People in the US are changing their perspectives on religion, spirituality T
he Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life division conducts polls that ask about religious affiliation, churchgoing habits, belief in God, importance of religion and frequency of prayer. According to an Oct. 17 Pew Research Center article, “In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace,” over time, decreasing numbers of Americans are identifying as Christian and increasing numbers are claiming “none” as their religion. In polling conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65 percent of American adults said they were Christian, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Four percent of American adults said they are atheists and 17 percent said their religion is “nothing in particular” — both groups as well as people who said they are members of non-Christian religions have grown over the past decade. The same article said the percentage of people who said they attend religious services at least once or twice a month is down 7 percentage points over the last decade. According to Pew’s Religious Landscape Study, conducted in 2007 and 2014, the percentage of people who believe in God has dropped from 71 percent to 63 percent. The percentage who said religion is not too or not at all important to them has risen from 16 percent of survey respondents to 22 percent from 2007 to 2014. The percentage who said they seldom or never pray increased from 18 percent to 23 percent during that same time period. However, that Religious Landscape Study indicates that while fewer people are affiliated with a formal religion, more report they are feeling a sense of spiritual peace and well-being. Fr. Charles Bouchard, CHA senior director, theology and sponsorship, cautioned that this trend toward spirituality devoid of outward expression brings up important questions, such as: If spirituality is totally internal, then are people who believe in a higher power ever called to do anything concrete? Can faith be totally spiritual without outward action in the context of relationships with others, to act upon the inward feelings? Fr. Bouchard said it seems to him an entirely inward spirituality, devoid of outward practice, “would contradict the incarnation,” or the bodily expression of a person’s beliefs.
ask about their spirituality in broader terms: ‘What gives you peace? What gives you meaning?’”
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Saint Louis University Hospital’s Kellett said that when patients and families do identify with a particular church or religion, she speaks with them about how their beliefs and church teachings fortify them when they are suffering. Prayer is almost always a part of those encounters. With a person who is religiously unaffiliated, atheistic or agnostic, Kellett still discusses meaning and hope, but rather than talk about faith or prayer traditions, she may ask how they find fulfilment and renewal.
Individualized spirituality Northwest Arkansas is home to a growing population that is also increasingly diverse in its ethnicity and religious traditions owing to the hiring practices of Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods, which are headquartered in Northwest Arkansas, Maddock said. Add to that diversity the Art Maddock, manager of pastoral services for Mercy Northwest Arkansas, trend toward individualiza- visits Betsy Aguilar of Fayetteville, Arkansas, during her stay at Mercy Hospital tion of beliefs and spiritual Northwest Arkansas in Rogers. Maddock and Aguilar prayed together during Finding meaning practices, and it’s clear to see the visit. Brown said even a nonreliwhy Maddock became pracgious person may welcome the ticed at being sensitive to, and respectful of, for ministry members to conduct a kind of compassionate council of a chaplain who the myriad ways people connect with the spiritual triage by routinely asking questions can help them reconcile with their new realdivine. as part of the patient intake process. The ity after illness and injury causes a permaWhen Maddock meets a new patient, questions — normally asked by clinicians nent loss of ability. “First and foremost, I explore with the per- or admissions staff — gauge whether there Brown said as chaplains “touch on those son aspects of meaning and importance to is spiritual pain, or deep and lingering sad- things that immediately come to the surhim or her. From the response I am able to ness or other unaddressed mental health face as spiritual for the person,” be it making determine if faith is an important element” concerns. Such assessments flag those who music, hiking on a mountain path or bowlto the individual. “If it is not, I focus on those might benefit from appropriate follow-up ing the perfect game. “We can let them guide areas that bring them hope and peace. with a chaplain the conversation.” “In my conversation with patients I also and connection to Active listening use broader terms related to faith and spiri- services. builds trust. “I have tuality. To someone atheistic or agnostic, experienced many being spiritual would be how they identify Sacred time of those people and connect with something greater than Chaplains who seeking the chapthemselves. I relate it to what brings mean- spoke to Catholain out later when ing, peace, and hope to (their) life. Another lic Health World they have more way to say it is ‘what makes you come alive?’” said that in oneserious issues” Sue Kellett, a chaplain at Saint Louis Uni- on-one conversaduring their hospiversity Hospital, said, “Even when people tions with patients tal stays. are not religious, they still want us to sit with who are open to a Kellett said them” and determine how to meet their spiritual care conregardless of how spiritual needs. sult, they strive to Sue Kellett, a chaplain at SSM Health Saint Louis people are livgain a nuanced University Hospital, and Charlie Dey, team leader of the ing out their faith Assessing needs u n d e r s t a n d i n g pastoral care department at the hospital, comfort a and spirituality, CHA’s Hibner said the Ethical and Reli- of an individual’s patient. she finds it hugely gious Directives for Catholic Health Care Ser- concerns and be meaningful to vices “outline very clearly that we are to meet present to them in prayer and in substantive connect with patients, especially people the spiritual needs of all — not just Catho- conversation. who are victims of violence, and to try to lics — and that pastoral care departments Often chaplains will choose their words help them navigate through the emotional, should have individuals on staff or connec- to fit the patients’ particular spiritual back- physical and spiritual trauma. “We’re seeing tions with people in the community” with ground, said Joby Brown, staff chaplain at so many people injured and alone, and it’s expertise in various faith traditions. Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital important to develop that relationship and It is now becoming increasingly common Ozaukee in Mequon, Wisconsin. forge a bond. “It’s a privilege for me to walk with people. It is a sacred time, to be welcomed in THREE PROMINENT ORGANIZATIONS, and to share with them,” she said. ONE INNOVATIVE GRADUATE OFFERING. jminda@chausa.org
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Patricia “Pat” Burns to president of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – Westover Hills in San Antonio. She was chief executive of JFK Medical Center North Campus Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida. Rob Casalou, president and chief executive of Trinity Burns Health’s Michigan Region, will take on broader responsibilities, including leadership of regional health ministries in Athens, Georgia, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joe Mark to interim chief administrative officer of PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center, Ketchikan, Alaska. He is director of WolfCreek Partners Group. He succeeds Ed Freysinger, who had announced he would step down to spend more time with his family. Therese Pandl plans to retire in July as president and chief executive of Hospital Sisters Health System – Eastern Wisconsin Division. That division is comprised of four Wisconsin hospitals: HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay, HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan, and HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls.
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CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD January 15, 2020
SSM Health funds health and education outreach in a barbershop Convenient location makes it easy for black men to ask medical questions, get screenings By PATRICIA CORRIGAN
Boatwright said he knows the center is making a difference. He recalled a man who stopped in several times to talk about his family’s history of diabetes. “He didn’t have a doctor, but after three or four chats with the staff (at the barbershop health center), he made a medical appointment. He has since learned that he also has diabetes, and now he’s on medication and feeling much better.” Jeff “JP” Patterson, the barbershop owner, said he is convinced that some of his customers will live longer because of the men’s health and education center.
P
op in for a haircut, have your blood pressure checked. Stop by for a shave, get a flu shot. Need to be tested for diabetes? Men in Madison, Wisconsin, can do that, too, and also pick up information on wellness classes — all at a popular barbershop. Through grants from SSM Health, the Men’s Health & Education Center opened in 2016 at JP Hair Design in Madison. The center is a project of the Madisonbased nonprofit Rebalanced-Life Wellness Association, founded in 2007. Aaron Perry, founder Perry and president, has one goal: to improve the health — and therefore the lives — of African-American men across Dane County. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of high blood pressure in African Americans is among the highest in the world. More than 40 percent of African Americans have hypertension, and heart disease is one of the leading causes of death for African-American men. SSM Health reports that in Wisconsin, AfricanAmerican men have a life expectancy seven years shorter than Caucasian men, and they suffer higher rates of diabetes, obesity and cancer as well.
Clients at the Rebalanced-Life Wellness Association Men’s Health & Education Center get their no-cost blood pressure screenings from Edgewood College nursing students. The center is located inside JP Hair Design, a popular black barbershop in Madison, Wisconsin.
a decade ago. Sitting in a barber’s chair, he overheard casual conversations about sports, family life, politics and religion. Customers also spoke openly about personal health issues, and about their reluctance to see a doctor. “Many men don’t schedule medical appointments and when they do, they don’t keep them,” Perry said. “Yet here they were, talking about health concerns where they felt comfortable and welcome — in a space where no medical practi– tioners were present to help them.” Perry knew men with diabetes would be receptive to ways they could better manage their illness, Meeting of the minds if he could just get that informa“Our partnership with RLWA tion to them. He recalled that started when two ideas conwhen word got out in 2005 that verged,” said Damond Boathe was the first African-American wright, SSM Health’s regional man with diabetes to complete president of operations in an Ironman Triathlon, he started Wisconsin. “We wanted to get getting emails from diabetics of closer to the root causes of all races all over the world, asksocial determinants in health ing how he did it and whether he and touch on the disparities for could help them manage their those hit hardest. Jennifer Ellesdisease. tad, community “Most of the relations manpeople who ager for SSM reached out Health here, were not even and I structured athletes,” Perry a grant program said. They were to help generate newly diagnosed innovative projwith diabetes ects that would and were searchreach populaing the Internet tions we have for information struggled to when they came connect with.” across a website Enter Perry, referencing his who was seekparticipation in a ing grants to triathlon. He said fund his vision Perry competes in an Ironman they wanted to to offer health Triathlon in 2005. He was the first know the same screenings and black man with diabetes to complete thing he wanted health educa- the grueling endurance competition. to know when he tion materi- He said people researching diabetes was 29 and newly als inside a online reached out to him for infordiagnosed with b a r b e r s h o p . mation and advice about managing diabetes: “Am I For seven long their disease. going to die?” years, every Perry founded grant he had applied for was the Rebalanced-Life Wellness denied. Then, in 2015, Perry Association with the aim of proapproached SSM Health. “We viding information that could help gave Aaron a three-year grant all people with diabetes improve for $90,000,” Boatwright said. their health outcomes. As he Perry said SSM Health has since dove deeper into research and continued to fund the program spoke with many men with diawith $30,000 annual grants. betes, he found there was a major Perry, an insulin-dependent race-based disparity in access to diabetic, first had the idea for a appropriate treatment. “Most of barbershop health center over the white diabetics I spoke with
MEN’S HEALTH & EDUCATION CENTER 584 Grand Canyon Dr, Madison WI, 53719 Located inside of JP Hair Design We believe there is no more important investment than your health.
CENTER HOURS:
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had all the supplies they needed, including glucose monitors, insulin pumps, diabetes educators and a nutritionist. The black community didn’t have adequate supplies,” he said. Perry narrowed the focus of the association, to address those health disparities.
Measuring success So far, Perry reported, well over 4,000 men have gotten health screenings or health information at the barbershop health center.
Boatwright noted that SSM Health is interested in starting to measure outcomes for the men served there. “That’s tricky,” he said, “because not everyone who comes in to see one of our doctors says he was referred by the barbershop. But we’re working to have better conversations around referrals in primary care visits, follow-ups and reports of improved or worsening health outcomes. We want to get a baseline sense of how we’re doing.”
Lots of buzz Word about the RebalancedLife Wellness Association Men’s Health & Education Center has spread well beyond Dane County. In November 2017, Perry was a guest on Megyn Kelly’s show on NBC-TV. A year later, Perry was recognized as one of TIME magazine’s 2018 “50 Most Influential People in Health Care.” The Rebalanced-Life Wellness Association was named the top innovative nonprofit at the 2018 Wisconsin Innovation Awards. “We’d always believed in the idea for the center, and then SSM took a chance on us,” Perry said. “Today, the center is a win-win for Madison and for Wisconsin, and hopefully Dane County will become the healthiest county. Men here deserve to be healthy and to have better longevity.” Last summer, Perry gave a personal tour of the center to Laura Kaiser, SSM Health’s president and chief executive, who was accompanied by Boatwright. “She believes health care is a fundamental right, and she declared the center as a best practice, one that should be emulated in other cities,” Boatwright said of Kaiser. Perry said his organization has been contacted by 20 physicians and people from about a dozen states considering replicating the barbershop health center. In addition to improving the health of the barbershop’s customers, the center also may be changing attitudes about medical care. Like Perry, Boatwright is a longtime customer at JP Hair Design. “A few months ago, I was sitting there in the chair in between two other men getting haircuts,” Boatwright said. “When their conversation jumped to one man’s visit with a primary care physician, he reported that it just wasn’t ‘that scary.’ That warmed my heart, and put a big smile on my face.”
The Rebalanced-Life Wellness Association offers yoga as part of its focus on the physical and mental health of black men. The yoga class meets in a renovated space adjacent to the Men’s Health and Education Center at JP Hair Design. The annex has a private room used for mental health and substance abuse counseling.