Catholic Health World - December 15, 2023 by Catholic Health Association

CHA chair’s holiday message 2 Executive changes 15 San Antonio collaboration 16 PERIODICAL RATE PUBLICATION

DECEMBER 15, 2023 VOLUME 39, NUMBER 20

GIVING TRADITIONS: SHELTER AND WARMTH

CHA’s Trocchio reflects on 35-plus years of trailblazing work in community benefit

Jennifer McMenamin Photography, LLC

By JULIE MINDA

From left, Lena Bradford Brown, Monyette Hopkins and Terri Clayman create winter wear for donation to Baltimore’s Health Care for the Homeless organization. For about seven years, they and other employees, retirees and community members of Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center have been knitting and crocheting winter accessories that Health Care for the Homeless in turn gives its clients.

Winter comfort

‘This is the life’

By JULIE MINDA

By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN

Continued on 14

Denver sister has fostered more than 100 children

Handicrafters’ gifts go to vulnerable Baltimoreans Last Christmas Eve, the temperature in Baltimore plummeted to 6 degrees, the coldest day there in 2022. And the Farmers’ Almanac says this winter in Maryland likely will be “frosty, flaky and slushy.” A group of volunteers at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center hopes to provide people who are experiencing homelessness with a little more protection from frigid temperatures this winter by supplying

Julie Trocchio is retiring as CHA senior director of community benefit and continuing care at the close of this year. During her 35-plus years at the association, she has led the Catholic health ministry’s pioneering work in developing community benefit standards for not-forprofit providers and tools for assessing the needs of the communities those Trocchio providers serve. She also played a key role in helping the Internal Revenue Service in its efforts to have nonprofit hospitals account for their community benefit work. Her more recent focus has been on providing community benefit education and resources to CHA members and other partners, to increase understanding of how providers benefit their communities and how they account for this work. Trocchio also has made significant contributions to the ministry’s progress in environmental stewardship, the social determinants of health, human trafficking, immigration, parish nursing and eldercare. As she concludes her tenure at CHA,

CHA debuts Theology & Ethics Center, With a toddler playing nearby on the floor and occasionally crawling onto her names center’s lap, Sr. Michael Delores Allegri, SCL, calmly recalls how she has cared for dozens of foster children in the last 26 years. At this point, executive director Sr. Michael Delores Allegri, SCL, of Denver has served as a foster parent to more than 100 children since 1999. Sr. Allegri, 81, says the children need safety and consistency and she tries to provide that in her home.

she’s not sure exactly how many. This toddler might be number 106. Or maybe 108. “Every time I count, I get a different number,” says Sr. Allegri. Known to her community and foster Continued on 15

PeaceHealth’s banners celebrate an array of cultures Again this winter, some PeaceHealth hospitals are undertaking their Winter Traditions campaign. The hospitals are displaying banners that educate passersby on ways that various cultures celebrate a variety of traditions that fall in the winter months. The hospitals’ cafeterias also are offering cuisine related to those holidays. INSIDE • 11

By JULIE MINDA

CHA has launched a new Theology & Ethics Center to help Catholic health care systems and facilities address complex issues that arise as they pursue their mission. The association has named ethicist Daniel Daly as the center’s inaugural executive director. Daly Over the coming year, CHA will form an advisory board and develop an operational plan for the center. The vision is for it to foster dialogue, encourage faithful and creative scholarship, and provide consultation around pressing theological and ethical concerns. CHA President and CEO Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, said that with increasingly complex moral and ethical issues faced in the delivery of health care, “our members recognized an opportunity for CHA to provide in-depth theological study to these Continued on 15

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If we want a world with less hostility, let us share our joy By DAMOND BOATWRIGHT 2023-2024 Chairperson CHA Board of Trustees President and CEO Hospital Sisters Health System

s a Catholic who feels truly blessed to be a servant leader in a Catholic health ministry, and humbled to serve as your CHA board chair, I want to sincerely extend a Merry Christmas to you all. I cannot think of two more beautiful words to say, to hear and to feel in their purest sense, particularly right now. Although what we Christians refer to as Advent season is meant to be a celebratory time with reflections on hope, peace, love and joy, it is difficult to feel cheerful or to have peace of mind with the tragedies taking place around the world. The wars in Ukraine and in Gaza are disturbing to see, especially when so many other war-torn countries continue to suffer loss of life, civil unrest and poverty long after their conflicts ended. Here in the United States, senseless violence has invaded our schools, our churches, our hospitals and many other places once considered safe spaces. No, it certainly does not seem like a time to be merry. Yet, that is precisely why I want to extend a message of Merry Christmas. Why? Well, I hope my feelings can be partially explained from the Gospel of Luke: Mary gave birth to Jesus and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:7-12)

Catholic Health World (ISSN 8756-4068) 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 CHA Service Center, 4455 Woodson Road, St. Louis, MO 63134-3797; phone: 800-230-7823; email: servicecenter@chausa.org. Periodicals postage rate is paid at St. Louis and additional mailing offices. Annual subscription rates: CHA members free, others $29 and foreign $29. 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 endorsement by the publication or CHA. All advertising is subject to review before acceptance. Vice President Communications and Marketing Brian P. Reardon

Editor Lisa Eisenhauer leisenhauer@chausa.org 314-253-3437 Associate Editor Julie Minda jminda@chausa.org 314-253-3412

Associate Editor Valerie Schremp Hahn vhahn@chausa.org 314-253-3410

Christmas

BLESSINGS

May your season be touched with the amazing grace of Christ’s love.

Merry Christmas Damond W. Boatwright President & CEO Hospital Sisters Health System

For me, the very essence of hope and love can be captured in these passages. For me, that is the essence of Christmas. And, for me, celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is more than a holiday when we decorate our houses and trees, or are extra kind and compassionate for one or two weeks (while we also make Amazon investors very happy). Christmas is an opportunity to pause and embrace the universally accepted values of love, compassion, respect and joy — role modeled by Jesus throughout his life on Earth. As I get older and more reflective about my life and the choices I have made, I am personally reminded every Advent season leading to Christmas how Catholicism has elevated my life! I am sincerely humbled and honored to be in this position today, abundantly blessed by dear friends, mentors, colleagues, priests and sisters who provided me the right encouragement and admonishment at the right time. Equally, I am praying for each of you to have the right people in your life each time you need them most. I am praying this year for you to have someone who sees the good and positive in you that God sees and created. No matter the difficulty or challenge in front of us, keep believing in God and believing that tomorrow will get better. I believe in Catholicism and religion because it has the power to heal, to inspire, to encourage and to help change lives, when practiced appropriately and authentically. Regardless of your religious faith, political party or skepticism about the world at this moment, I challenge all of us to, in words attributed to Gandhi, “be the change we want to see in the world.” If we want the world to have more joy and less hostility, let us be merry and share our joy with all our brothers and sisters. My final thought is to encourage you to share what I consider the greatest gift everyone should give and receive — forgiveness. Please take a moment and join me in this prayer. Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee Blessed are thou amongst women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mother, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Amen.

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December 15, 2023 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD 3

REJOICE!

And Flourish in Faith “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” — JOHN 10:10

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year The Catholic Health Association of the United States

Ann Alvers Liwäy Arceo Lori Ashmore-Ruppel Amy Ballance Kyle Belobrajdic Keon Blackledge Trevor Bodewitz Paula Bommarito Cara Brouder Leslie Brown Janey Brummett Sandy Buttery Tony Cable Loren Chandler Bruce Compton Season Cooley Betty Crosby Kimberly Crossman Kathy Curran Janet Dunahue Lisa Eisenhauer Chris Fields Jill Fisk Vicki Gant Dennis Gonzales Sr. Mary Haddad Valerie Schremp Hahn Madeline Hantak Tracie Heck Rebecca Heermann David Hein Angela Henderson Darren Henson Valerie Herron Nathaniel Hibner Brenda Hudson Katie Hurley Brian Kane Charlotte Kelley Karla Keppel Norma Klingsick Margaret Kriso Nancy Lim Jenn Lyke Cheryl Mance Dottie Martin Josh Matejka Sr. Teresa Maya Andre Mayne Ken Mayo Crystal Mendez Julie Minda Debbie Morrow Sharon Novak Clay O’Dell Michele Oranski Nick Osterholt Paulo Pontemayor Kevin Prior Deanna Quigley Brian Reardon Katrina Reid Chrissie Rodgers Diarmuid Rooney Ken Schanuel Cherie Schroeder Lisa Smith Indu Spugnardi Lucas Swanepoel Betsy Taylor Danette Thompson Julie Trocchio Sheryl Ullrich Dee Walsh

We Will Empower Bold Change to Elevate Human Flourishing.SM

4 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD December 15, 2023

IN THE

and on earth peace to people of good will. Luke 2:14

Sharing with you the glory, the wonder and the miracle of this holy season. May God bless you and yours this Christmas and in the new year to come.

CHRISTUShealth.org

23-454538

December 15, 2023 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD 5

May God’s peace fill you, those you love and all of creation during this holy season.

And the angel said unto them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12

Prayers for peace and comfort to you from Ascension Our caregivers, support teams and subsidiaries are grateful to be part of a vibrant Catholic healthcare community, dedicated to spreading peace, love and compassion to all people, all year round.

6 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD December 15, 2023

ay the God of hope

fill you with the joy

and peace in believing,

so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ROMANS 15:13

May God bless you and yours this Christmas and New Year.

December March15, 1,2023 2022 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD 7

As the messenger said to them, “Do not fear! I bring you the good story that will be told to all nations. Today in the village of Much Loved One (David) an Honored Chief has been born who will set his people free. He is the Chosen One! ... This is how you will know him — you will find the child wrapped in a blanket and lying in a feeding trough.”

Luke 2:10-12 First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament

8 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD December 15, 2023

I will light candles this Christmas. Candles of joy, despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair keeps watch, Candles of courage where fear is ever present, Candles of peace for tempest tossed days, Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens. Candles of love to inspire my living. Candles that will burn all the year-long. Howard Thurman

Wishing you peace this Christmas Season. Caring for our communities in Minnesota, North Dakota & Wisconsin

May the love that brings healing and peace to the world, be born in each of us this Christmas season.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 3:12

covenanthealth.net

December 15, 2023 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD 9

Wishing you a blessed holiday season and a new year filled with health, peace and hope. From all of us at Trinity Health Allegany Franciscan Ministries | Florida

Saint Joseph Health System | Indiana

Global Health Ministry | International

St. Joseph’s Health | New York

Holy Cross Health | Florida

St. Mary’s Health Care System | Georgia

Holy Cross Health | Maryland

St. Peter’s Health Partners | New York

Loyola Medicine | Illinois

Trinity Health At Home | National

Mercy Care | Georgia

Trinity Health | Michigan

MercyOne | Iowa/Minnesota/Nebraska/South Dakota

Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic | Pennsylvania/Delaware

Mount Carmel Health System | Ohio

Trinity Health Of New England | Connecticut/Massachusetts

Pittsburgh Mercy | Pennsylvania

Trinity Health PACE | National

Saint Agnes Medical Center | California

Trinity Health Senior Communities | National

Saint Alphonsus Health System | Idaho/Oregon

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Our Lady of the Lake in southeast Louisiana marks 100th anniversary Our Lady of the Lake of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, kicked off a yearlong celebration of its 100th anniversary with a November Mass and reception. It also tied its annual living nativity in early December to its anniversary, has plans to link a community investment announcement to the centennial and is curating team member stories to mark the occasion. Baton Rouge Bishop Michael Duca celebrated the Mass. Leaders and staff of Our Lady of the Lake and its parent Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System attended, along with members of the system’s founding congregation the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady. Our Lady of the Lake traces its U.S. origins to 1911, when six FMOL sisters arrived in the country from France to further the healing mission of Jesus. The sisters first established the St. Francis Sanitarium in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1913. In 1921, upon learning that Baton Rouge needed a hospital, the FMOL congregation’s Mother de Bethanie Crowley took a driving tour of that small river town

of 22,000 with Msgr. Francis Leon Gassler of St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Baton Rouge. It is said that when they neared the former site of Louisiana State University in what is now downtown Baton Rouge, Mother de Bethanie directed them to stop. Our Lady of the Lake recounted in a press release that Msgr. Gassler “was aghast as Mother de Bethanie purposefully picked her way through a mule yard toward a briar patch at the back of the property.” The site she scoped out was a de facto dump. A hospital on the site firmly in mind, she swiftly formed an ecumenical committee to amass community support for a hospital. The community raised $30,000 toward construction of Our Lady of the Lake Sanitarium, which opened in November 1923. It has since moved to a different location. Today the Our Lady of the Lake network includes Louisiana’s largest medical center, the 900-bed Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center; a 99-bed Children’s Hospital; a 78-bed hospital in Gonzales, Louisiana; and other locations. The Our Lady of the Lake network employs more than 7,500.

O Holy Night May the miracle of Christmas live in each of our hearts today and always.

“ G�v� a�d t� a�l w�t�o�t e�c�p�i�n�.� f�r e�e�y�o�y i� y�u� n�i�h�o�.” n�i�h�o�.”

Live God With Us this Holy Season.

Merry Christmas

December 15, 2023 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD 11

PeaceHealth facilities celebrate diverse winter customs with displays, cuisine By JULIE MINDA

This winter, several PeaceHealth hospitals are brightening up the grayness of winter with a festive campaign celebrating seven different customs or observances. The Winter Traditions campaign features colorful banners and culturally specific menu options in the hospitals’ cafeterias. Charles Prosper, CEO of the PeaceHealth Northwest network, came up with the idea for the campaign, which began last year at three hospitals and this year Prosper is underway at seven. He says highlighting varied customs is a way of nurturing a sense of belonging for coworkers, patients and visitors. It’s also an opportunity to learn about one another and to share in each other’s cultures, he says. “When someone sees their culture reflected, it’s a warming feeling,” he says.

Displaying openness The 2023 Winter Traditions campaign began last month at PeaceHealth campuses in Bellingham, Sedro-Woolley, Friday Harbor, Vancouver and Longview in Washington; Ketchikan in Alaska; and Springfield in Oregon. During seven periods between early November and early February, the facilities highlight a different custom with banners that are about 8 feet tall on display in lobbies, elevator bays and other common areas. The banners include images associated with the highlighted customs and text explaining them. Each week, the facilities’ cafeterias have menu options that reflect the customs — in some cases they are using staff members’ recipes. In some facilities, associates wear their traditional or ceremonial garb for the selected winter custom. Some staff give informal talks about those traditions. Prosper says the initiative shows Peace-

These are three of the seven banner themes that PeaceHealth has created as part of its Winter Traditions campaign. The campaign highlights some of the customs and celebrations of different populations that PeaceHealth serves.

Health’s openness to a diverse array of cultures.

Festival of Lights The first week of the Winter Traditions began Nov. 12 — the participating PeaceHealth sites displayed banners and offered cafeteria cuisine associated with Diwali, the new year observance of Hindu, Jain and Sikh cultures. The banner content explained that Diwali celebrations focus on the power of light over darkness — revelers often light lamps to symbolize this concept. For the eight days beginning Dec. 7, the campaign focused on Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah honors a successful Jewish revolt in ancient times and

Human connection It’s what makes the healing ministry of health care so fulﬁlling for our dedicated community of caregivers. This Advent and Christmas season, may you embrace sacred encounters with your dear neighbors. Rebuild relationships. Deepen connections. Share in the spirit of this holy time and be ﬁlled with peace, love and joy. Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, goodwill to all. LUKE 2:14

Providence.org

Charles Prosper says highlighting varied customs is a way of nurturing a sense of belonging for co-workers, patients and visitors. It’s also an opportunity to learn about one another and to share in each other’s cultures, he says. remembers how at the time of the revolt, dwindling oil lit lamps miraculously for eight days.

For more than a week beginning Dec. 16, the facilities will display banners and offer cuisine associated with Las Posadas, or The Inns, a Latino festival and procession commemorating Joseph and Mary’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem and their struggle to find shelter. The same period, the facilities will celebrate Parol, a Filipino tradition. A parol is a starshaped lantern displayed at Christmas in the Philippines. Kwanzaa, a celebration of the panAfrican community, will be marked from Dec. 26 until the new year. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of seven values: unity, self-determination, cooperative economics, collective responsibility, purpose, creativity and faith. On Jan. 13, the PeaceHealth sites will highlight Malanka, a Ukrainian folk holiday that kicks off the new year. Malanka customs have to do with a sheaf of wheat that references a sheaf that Joseph used to seal a crack in the stable where Jesus was born, according to legend. The Winter Traditions will conclude on Feb. 10 with a tribute to the Lunar New Year that many Asian cultures celebrate beginning with the new moon of the lunar calendar. Gift-giving, dances, fireworks and lantern festivals are part of the observances. Prosper says Winter Traditions is part of a larger systemwide effort. All PeaceHealth hospitals have resource groups that give particular populations of employees a chance to celebrate themselves and host programming to educate colleagues on their group. Prosper says the resource groups give a voice to employee populations and their allies. Some of these groups include ones specific to women, indigenous people, LGBTQ+, social justice, veterans, Latinx and Black caregivers and their allies. To see larger photos of the banners, visit chausa.org/chw. jminda@chausa.org

12 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD December 15, 2023

We wish you a Christmas season of

Love and Light,

A Season of Love and Light

filled with the spirit and compassion of Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” – Luke 2:10

December 15, 2023 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD 13

TO THE WORLD

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11/21/23 10:46 AM

14 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD December 15, 2023

Knitters them with hats, scarves, gloves, and other winter accessories — most of the items hand-knitted or hand-crocheted. For at least seven years, the pharmacy staff at Mercy has been organizing an annual collection of such accessories to donate at Christmastime to Baltimore’s Health Care for the Homeless, a federally qualified health center serving about 12,000 of the most vulnerable community members. Christina Bauer, development director for Health Care for the Homeless, says for the organization’s staff to be able to offer the winter accessories to their clients is a way of saying “I care about you.” “Our clients are so grateful, and we wouldn’t have this without Mercy,” she says.

K2P2 and the Chain Gang Mercy was part of a coalition that formed Health Care for the Homeless and wrote the application for the first grant for the organization in 1984. Mercy has partnered with that agency in the delivery of health care services. Health Care for the Homeless includes a main clinic and satellite and mobile locations around the city, most of which are co-located with another service provider. The network offers primary care, pediatrics, obstetrics, dental services, behavioral health and other services. Bauer says the winter accessory donation began when some Mercy staff who interface with the health center wondered whether their knitting and crocheting skills could benefit the center’s clients. Health Care for the Homeless graciously accepted

Photos by Jennifer McMenamin Photography, LLC

From page 1

Every year, members of Mercy Medical Center’s knitting and crocheting club join numerous other Baltimore community members in making winter accessories for people who are experiencing homelessness. The club donates 300 to 350 items.

their offer. Monyette Hopkins is a Mercy pharmacy inventory specialist. She says a former pharmacist formed a club of sorts, called Knit Two, Purl Two, or K2P2, and the Chain Gang. K2P2 is the knitters, and the Chain Gang is the crocheters of the club. The club’s founder helped newbies to learn to knit. The club originally handmade accessories for the babies in the neonatal intensive care unit and for patients undergoing infusion therapy. But when the donations outstripped the need, the groups sought a new outlet for their creative skills. They first helped a children’s health outreach program. But when that program closed, the club landed on the idea of helping the federally qualified health center.

Community effort The annual enterprise has taken on a

life of its own. Hopkins says the groups in the pharmacy begin spreading the word around September that they are again collecting knitted and crocheted winter accessories. Those who lack the knack for knitting but still desire to help can donate store-bought winter wear. Some people donate yarn that others can use to make the accessories. The groups normally collect about 300 to 350 winter accessories and give them to Health Care for the Homeless each December. That organization keeps them on hand to offer to clients who do not have appropriate coverings for the winter weather. All of the center’s clients — men, women, children — can pick out winter items from the collection. Lena Bradford Brown is a pharmacy technician with Mercy who crochets for K2P2 and the Chain Gang. She says that

Trocchio Trocchio reflects on her decades of work on behalf of the ministry: What drew you to CHA more than three decades ago? I used to work for another association and when I came to CHA for meetings, I would say, “Who are these really nice people who are doing such good work?” I discovered it was possible to combine my faith life and work life and I knew it was exactly right for me.

What were some of the approaches that have made you and your colleagues in the ministry so successful in connecting with the political leaders who were making decisions about the community benefit space? I think our credibility came when we explained that our members were carrying on a tradition started by the sisters who came to this country over 100 years ago. They looked around, saw what was needed and served. We built on this trust by having an accounting system that captured our members’ work toward making our communities healthier. I remember going to Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office after he said in the press that no

jminda@chausa.org

and department are engaged. We are seeing environmental responsibility and sustainability showing up in overall strategic plans and health system priorities.

From page 1

Throughout your career, Catholic health care has been a national leader in community benefit. What do you think it is about the ministry’s leadership that has made it so prescient about community benefit? When Congress started asking whether there was a difference between for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals and whether not-for-profit hospitals deserved tax exemption, the CHA board took the issue seriously. They commissioned a study on the distinguishing characteristics of notfor-profit health care and developed a framework for telling our story, not just in words, but with a solid accounting system. They were truly prophetic by maintaining this work, updating it and refining it even when Congress did not seem interested.

there are many Mercy patients who are homeless, and she enjoys crocheting for the annual collection because it gives her a way to try to help this population, in her own way. Terri Clayman, who is a retired Mercy pharmacist, continues to knit for the accessory collection. She says she is part of multiple knitting clubs, and she always invites her fellow knitters as well as other creative souls at her temple to contribute. Anyone can donate accessories, not just Mercy employees. Hopkins says in one case, a person who was homeless used donated yarn to create winter wear for others in need. Hopkins says everyone who participates enjoys the chance to give back. “It feels good to brighten someone’s day,” she says.

Julie Trocchio speaks at CHA’s Legislative Advocacy Conference in September 2010. During her 35-year tenure at CHA, she has been a key player on the association’s advocacy team. Trocchio is retiring this month as CHA senior director of community benefit and continuing care.

one knows what a community benefit is, and that you could call anything a community benefit. We said we knew and had an accounting system to document it. During the meeting one of his staff members looked through our guide and laughed, saying, “So you call having a meeting in your hospital a community benefit?” We had a hospital CEO with us who said, “I can understand what you are saying, but in my area, we are the safest place to hold a meeting at night. And we don’t report what a hotel would charge, only what it costs us for coffee and janitor services.” How has CHA’s work in community benefit been affirmed by other stakeholders? Once we realized that our resources were being used not just by Catholic hospitals but by other nonprofits and state hospital associations, we knew that we were on to something. What are the risks if the ministry does not properly anticipate where it must head when it comes to community benefit? I think we are seeing today what happens when we don’t tell our story. But I understand that. I remember going to a Catholic system meeting to talk about community benefit, and the reading to start the meeting was from Matthew, about not letting your

right hand know what your left hand was doing and not to boast of good works. I said to myself, “This is going to be a hard sell.” It is uncomfortable boasting about the good we do, but we have learned it is essential to be accountable to our communities and our policymakers. What must the ministry prioritize to best prepare for what’s ahead in this space? Community benefit is becoming more data driven, which makes it much more strategic. And we are getting more public health and other health professionals in the field, which will help the field leap forward. What has gratified you most in your work in this realm? Seeing how seriously our members take it when working with community partners to improve community health. Beyond community benefit, your role at CHA also has included a focus on environmental stewardship. What gives you the most hope when you think about the ministry’s work in this area? It used to be only a small number of people in our systems, hospitals and nursing homes who were concerned about the environment and what we were doing to harm it. Now almost every organization

And your CHA role also has encompassed eldercare. What are you most gratified about when it comes to the ministry’s recent work around long-term care? Two things come to mind. First the heroic work of our long-term care members during COVID. CEOs and other staff sleeping in the parking lot to be sure residents got the care they needed, hiring a forklift so families could make a window visit with loved ones. I was so proud and enamored of their bravery and dedication. Second, the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative. I was helpful in getting CHA to be a partner with the American Hospital Association in this effort, which I think is the most effective quality assurance program for older people encountering the health care system. Watching this movement grow has been a joy. Our biggest challenge is for the ministry to recommit to seeing the needs of older adults as a priority. Many of our organizations started by serving older people and Pope Francis has called this a priority for the church. What is a favorite memory of your work in Catholic health care? Watching Sr. Bernice Coreil, DC, testify before the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and telling him she would not continue her testimony until he was through with his conversation with his staff members. I said to myself, “I really want to work with these women!” (Sr. Coreil is the retired executive adviser to Ascension’s president, a former CHA board chair and the 2003 recipient of CHA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.) What is ahead for you in retirement? I am looking forward to not going to and from work in the dark and trying to learn Microsoft Teams. I also plan to be a professional grandmother. Visit chausa.org/chw for links to related articles. jminda@chausa.org

December 15, 2023 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD 15

Sr. Allegri From page 1

children as Sr. Michael, since 1999 the 81-year-old has been a stalwart of the Mount Saint Vincent Foster Care Program in Denver, which until about six years ago was run by Catholic Charities of Denver. Mount Saint Vincent marks 140 years of operation this year. It is among the facilities and programs that were part of SCL Health until that system merged with Intermountain Health last year. The Mount Saint Vincent staff and volunteers support children and families through an early learning center, outpatient therapy, in-home therapy, day treatment, and foster care program. Sr. Allegri says when it comes to caring for foster children, “You just do what you need to do.” “I’m sure I’ve made mistakes along the way,” she adds. “But the need is there for these kids to Sr. Allegri be able to have a safe, nurturing, hopefully loving home. And so once you get into the routine and rhythm of it, it just happens.” Bri Berens manages the staff that runs the foster care program at Mount Saint Vincent and oversees about 28 licensed foster homes. There usually are about 30 children in the program, though that number fluctuates. “One of the things that I see in Sr. Michael that I value so highly is just her ability to provide unconditional, nonjudgmental care to a child who needs it, whether that’s an 18-month-old or a 13-year-old or an 18-year-old and beyond,” Berens says. “She’s just not rattled. She is steady and consistent.”

Living her dream Sr. Allegri knew from a young age she wanted to care for children. As a Girl Scout in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, she recalls how her troop made stuffed toys for a nearby “baby home” and spent Saturday mornings playing with the children. “I thought, when I grow up, I’m going to own my own orphanage because all I’d have to do is play with kids,” she says. “I just thought, this is the life.” She entered the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth in 1962, choosing the order partly because it ran orphanages. But within a few years, foster care had become a government-funded program, with orphanages closing and more children living in foster homes. Sr. Allegri taught various subjects in high school in Kansas City for more than 20 years, but she always thought about caring for younger children. One summer in the early 1980s, she visited a friend who worked at Mount Saint Vincent, which was then a residential treatment center for children with severe emotional and behavioral challenges. The next year, she came back and took a position as a unit manager, staying four years. She loved taking care of the children but missed her family and community in Kansas City, so in 1990 she moved back. She became an elementary school principal and lived with two sisters in her order who took in foster children. The lure of Mount Saint Vincent remained, so in 1997 Sr. Allegri returned to a job supervising the kitchen and housekeeping staffs. A couple years later, she and a Mount Saint Vincent therapist became foster parents in the same home. When the therapist moved, Sr. Allegri knew she had to stay with the five children and see them through the system. She’s kept her door open ever since and she has no plans to close it. “If the need is there, and I can meet that need,” she says, “then that’s what I want to do.” Consistent and loving When foster children come to stay with her, Sr. Allegri knows the goal is to provide

a stable home until they return to their families, go to an adoptive home, or start a life on their own as an adult. “The main thing that I think my kids need is consistency, and to know that they’re safe,” she says. “The days are very structured, but not regimented.” The children go to school or day care, where they may get therapy. Sr. Allegri makes sure they get to appointments and to visits with their parents. “We have dinner together every night, so they get a sense that we’re a family, and, you know, this is what families do,” she says. The shortest period a child has stayed with her is 24 hours and the longest is five years. Sometimes she cares for siblings. She says it can be easier when there are more children in her home so they can help and play with one another. She usually has between one and four children in her care at a time. She gets support in the form of babysitting and clothes from other foster care providers and from parishioners at Spirit of Christ Catholic Community in Arvada, Colorado. About 10 years ago, a couple offered to hold a baby during Mass while Sr. Allegri was dealing with three other children. “We can sit by you anytime in church,” they told her. They have been sitting by her every Sunday since and have become unofficial foster grandparents to the children.

A normal life Jesse Floyd, 29, who now lives in Portland, Oregon, first stayed with Sr. Allegri when he was 6 and lived with her for about a year and a half. He had been bounced from foster home to foster home until finding stability and solace with Sr. Allegri. He stayed with her a second time when he was about 8 for about three years, until his uncle adopted him. He and Sr. Allegri still stay in touch. “It was nice actually being in a foster home where the foster parent would actually go out of the way to try to make you feel human,” he says. Sr. Allegri would throw birthday parties, arrange gatherings with friends, make sure everyone ate dinner together, and take the children on road trips to places like Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico or Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, he says. “I guess the best way to put it is it was stable and compassionate,” he recalls. “She set an example of how life should be if it were normal for these kids.” Floyd now lives on his own and manages a bar kitchen. He says his life would not be as stable without the strong foundation Sr. Allegri laid. He credits her for his love of travel and for making him a more compassionate person. “Being able to take a step back and trying to be a little bit more compassionate is always something that I hold dear,” he says. Maintaining strength It can be frustrating navigating the foster care system and heartbreaking learning about what some of the children have endured, Sr. Allegri says. But she believes the system can help heal families that may have suffered generational trauma. “Our kids deserve the best that we can give to them,” she says. “And it’s not their fault, you know? They didn’t ask to be born into a situation that was not anything except as perfect as any family can be. And some people just need help.” Sr. Allegri has stayed in touch with many of her foster children. When they leave her care, she often sends them off with a scrapbook or collection of photos. She knows many of the children were too young to have memories of her. “They don’t necessarily remember me,” she says. “They just hopefully remember that they were loved and cared for.” vhahn@chausa.org

Archbishop Di Noia to assist CHA Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, OP, newly retired as adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, will be working with CHA on several projects next year. Archbishop Di Noia will assist CHA in enhancing its Ministry Identify Assessment. He has been a vocal supporter of the tool, helping promote its effectiveness among church leaders. He will also assist in the establishment of the CHA Theology & Ethics Center. Archbishop The archbishop received his appointment to his Vatican position in Di Noia 2002. He is a past executive director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices.

new challenges Theology & Ethics Center NewSr.technology, Mary said given the rate of scientific From page 1

emerging ethical issues to help guide Catholic health care through these challenging times.” “We have the ability to bridge the clinical and ethical realms of care in a practical manner,” she said.

Practical experience, scholarship Sr. Mary said CHA leadership and members developed the idea for the center after identifying a gap in theological and ethical discourse. Because most U.S. ethics centers are run by universities, they tend to have an academic rather than practical focus. “We believe that the uniqueness of this center will be our ability to bring together the practical experience of health care with strong theological scholarship,” she said. “This approach will better inform our work.” To develop the plan for the center, CHA has been engaging internal and external stakeholders. This includes top executives, ethicists and clinicians with ministry systems and facilities; university professors; directors of Catholic bioethics centers; and staff of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The advisory board CHA is assembling will be comprised of theologians, clinicians, bishops and other experts. Sr. Mary noted that especially given the focus on practical application of theological concepts, CHA member engagement will be critical to the center’s development and ongoing operations. “This center will allow us to delve deeper into the complex issues challenging Catholic health care today with theological rigor,” she explained. In addition to working closely with members, CHA plans for the center to form a network with Catholic theology schools and bioethics centers. This broad group of experts will seek to advance the ministry in the U.S. and strengthen one another’s work. Sr. Mary said, “The ‘We’ in CHA’s vision statement is the recognition that the Catholic health ministry cannot do this work alone.” The vision statement, which CHA announced in the summer, is “We will empower bold change to elevate human flourishing.”

advances and introduction of new technology, “I am certain that the center will not be at a loss for subject matter.” For instance, the use of artificial intelligence and DNA editing are among emerging technologies that hold both great promise and great potential ethical concern. “It is our moral obligation to ensure that new technologies are ethically and responsibly used to promote human dignity and ensure the common good so that all may flourish,” she said. Daly joins CHA from Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, where he is finishing out the academic year as an associate professor of moral theology. Prior to his tenure at Boston College, he was an associate professor at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. He authored the book The Structures of Virtue and Vice, has written numerous journal articles and has presented at multiple conferences. He was a member of CHA’s Theology and Ethics Committee from 2015 to 2021. Daly said he welcomes the opportunity to contribute in a more direct way than he has in the past to the mission of the Catholic health ministry. He said he will prioritize listening to the center’s stakeholders to gain a thorough understanding of their perspectives. He noted that Pope Francis recently has emphasized the importance of people engaging across disciplines to learn one another’s viewpoints. Daly said that in the tradition of St. Thomas of Aquinas, he believes the center will be able to serve as a “venue for the inclusive, free exchange of ideas,” where all input is taken seriously and scrutinized. “Debate helps us develop and sharpen our perspectives,” he said. He said the center’s success will be predicated upon its ability to respond to the needs of many ministry constituents and partners, including ministry patients and providers, bishops and organizations that work with the ministry. He said the center “will help shape the discourse of Catholic health care” with the goal of ensuring patients and staff and community members are nourished and their dignity promoted. jminda@chausa.org

KEEPING UP Health of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

HONOR

Robertson

Parsley

Heiselbetz

PRESIDENT/CEO Casey Robertson to president and CEO of the CHRISTUS Shreveport-Bossier Health System in Shreveport, Louisiana, from chief operating officer of the CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System in Longview, Texas.

ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES Kevin Parsley to chief operating officer of CHRISTUS Southeast Texas Health System. Gordon Heiselbetz to vice president of support services for Our Lady of the Lake

Sr. Teresa Maya, CCVI, CHA senior director for theology and sponsorship, received the Mary Emil Penet, IHM Award in NovemSr. Maya ber at the congress of the Religious Formation Conference in Chicago. The award recognizes people who have made a significant contribution to formation ministry and who demonstrate a substantial commitment to and investment of energy and insight into the formative journey. The award is given by the Religious Formation Conference, a national Catholic organization providing religious institutes of women and men with programs and services that promote lifelong formation.

16 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD December 15, 2023

IN BRIEF Dignity Health facility partners on grants to address food insecurity Dignity Health Sequoia Hospital and the Sequoia Healthcare District provided $100,000 in funding this holiday season for vulnerable populations challenged by ongoing food insecurity. The Holiday Food Grant Program, a collaboration between the two Redwood City, California-based organizations, supports five groups in their work to provide food to people in need. One grant recipient, Ecumenical Hunger Program, provides low-income people with holiday food boxes at Thanksgiving and Christmas. A second recipient, Friends of the Veterans Memorial Senior Center, is helping provide nutritious meals to seniors. Grant recipient the Karat School Project is undertaking a holiday food and winter supplies program to provide families living in RVs and other transient situations with holiday meals for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Karat also is providing the families with food and household supplies to cover the winter months. LifeMoves is using its grant to provide meals, or food used to prepare meals, at all of the interim housing sites it serves. Upward Scholars is using the funds it is receiving to distribute grocery gift cards to the vulnerable students it serves. Grant funders say close to 10,000 local residents will benefit from the nutritious food funded by the holiday food grants.

Beds are taken out of a hospital within the Hospital Sisters Health System for donation to Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach. The system is giving the charity dozens of the beds, which are in turn being given to facilities in need of them elsewhere in the world.

Hospital Sisters Health System donates beds for use across globe Hospital Sisters Health System has donated 129 beds to Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach with more to come. The Springfield, Illinois-based health system is standardizing its beds at all its hospitals. When the first project phase is finished, 190 beds taken out of service will be donated from HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin; and HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield; HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese; HSHS Holy Family Hospital in Greenville; and HSHS St.

Francis Hospital in Litchfield, all in Illinois. Erica Smith, executive director of Mission Outreach, says hospital beds are the number one requested item. “I recently was in Uganda, and I saw a hospital where in the pediatric ward the children were on the floor recovering from surgery because there are no beds there,” says Smith. The beds from HSHS are already being shipped out to hospitals in other countries. “It’s been a huge success,” says Smith. “We had one example of beds that we got in Green Bay that were on a container to Tanzania within two weeks.”

CommonSpirit hospital gets grant to address opioid use disorder Saint Joseph Mount Sterling in Kentucky has received a $50,000 grant from the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship Program to participate in its Emergency Department Bridge Program. The grant will help establish a new position within the hospital to address opioid misuse. The initiative aims to make opioid use disorder treatment available at all times. The ED Bridge Program launched in January 2023 in collaboration with the Kentucky Hospital Association. The initiative is an expansion of the existing program, which focuses on inpatient and outpatient opioid stewardship with primary care providers. This new program helps emergency departments make opioid use disorder treatment accessible on a 24/7 basis. Saint Joseph Mount Sterling will be among the first 13 hospitals in the state to participate in this program. In addition to funding the new position, participation in the new program will provide the hospital with education on opioid stewardship best practices, support and coordination on the program with the Kentucky Hospital Association, and access to clinical advisers and subject matter experts to guide the program toward sustainability. Saint Joseph Mount Sterling is a 42-bed hospital that is part of CHI Saint Joseph Health, which is in the CommonSpirit Health system.

Collaborative co-founded by CHRISTUS continues to evolve to meet San Antonians’ needs By JULIE MINDA

anywhere,” said Gonzales.

“If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.” A CHRISTUS Health leader cited this proverb to explain the impetus behind a collaboration of San Antonio organizations to address pressing health and social needs in this southeast Texas community of more than a million people. During a recent webinar, that leader — Sarah Hetue Hill — and others heading the collaborative described how the group has evolved its work. “We’re in a unique position to create change with our unified voice, as Catholic health leaders with other leaders. We are leaning in, assessing Hill community needs and leveraging our voices to address health inequities” and to work toward eliminating racism, Hill said during the Nov. 9 CHA webinar. She is regional vice president of mission integration for CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System and CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital. The webinar — “Transforming Health Care Together: The San Antonio Health Collaborative Story” — was part of CHA’s We Are Called webinar series. We Are Called is CHA’s wide-ranging push toward health equity, which CHA members are pursuing through the Confronting Racism by Achieving Health Equity Pledge. The San Antonio Health Collaborative creates a community health needs assessment and community health improvement plan for Bexar County, Texas. It also founded a hub to identify and address needs of individual community members. Hill said the collaborative is an example of what can be done when even “fierce competitors come together to tackle an issue.” She said the ever-expanding group of partners is helping improve the health outcomes of vulnerable people. Dennis Gonzales, CHA senior director of mission integration and innovation, told Catholic Health World that the collaborative stands out nationally in that competing health systems in a large city are successfully working together. “If it can happen there, it can be done

Visionary leader Hill explained that the collaborative came about because Sr. Michele O’Brien, CCVI, of a CHRISTUS co-sponsor, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of San Antonio, lamented in the late 1990s that there were many community needs, and health and social service providers seemed to be “working in silos,” addressing those needs in a fragmented way. Sr. O’Brien, who Hill called visionary for her foresight, approached other organizations in the community and in 1997 had enough buy-in to launch the group. In 2020 the group became a formal nonprofit, the Health Collaborative of San Antonio. Webinar presenter Elizabeth Lutz, CEO of the collaborative, said since its formation a governing board representing its members has been determining how the collaborative should prioritize its work. Hill is Health Collaborative board chair. Other members include representatives of Baptist Health, University of the Incarnate Word, Our Lady of the Lake University, Methodist Healthcare, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Community First Health Plans, Bexar County, the San Antonio Metro Health Department, University Health of San Antonio, and the University of Texas Health Science Center. A community member who is not affiliated with any particular partner organization also is on the board. Beginning in 2010 the group began creating a single community health needs assessment and community health improvement plan for Bexar County. Central hub In 2018, Lutz explained, the collaborative’s board decided to take on the root causes of community members’ health and social concerns in a holistic way. So the collaborative founded the Grow Healthy Together community hub, which in 2020 became the first Texas organization certified by the Pathways Community HUB Institute. The institute equips communities across the U.S. to provide health and social

service navigation help to vulnerable community members. With the help of staff from various organizations, the Grow Healthy Together hub locates community members in need of service navigation help. Community health workers assess the individuals’ needs and connect them with the resources, information, services and/or referrals they require. The hub also measures the impact of the services that have been provided on individuals’ lives. At its inception, the hub relied heavily on grant dollars. Now it is funded largely through health system participant annual dues and contracts the hub secures with insurance companies and other organizations that reimburse for health care services. Those companies determine which populations within their client base are most in need, connect the hub with those clients and then pay the hub when “pathways” of need are completed. Some fees go into a general fund that the hub maintains to cover the costs of aiding clients who are not insured by participating payers. The incentive for the payers is to keep their clients out of expensive emergency departments by taking care of those clients’ social needs. If their social needs are left unmet, people may destabilize and end up in the emergency department, the logic goes.

Closing the loop Esmeralda “Mela” Perez, who directs community services for CHRISTUS Santa Rosa and CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital, explained that when the hub’s community health workers engage with their clients, they first learn what their clients’ needs are, and that enables Perez the community health workers to set up pathways, or steps to take to address clients’ needs. The community health workers must resolve the needs to close the loop on the pathways. For instance, if a community health worker identifies hunger as a need, that worker might connect the client with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, helping that client apply for a SNAP

card, teaching the client to use the card and making sure the client is then using the card successfully. At that point, the loop is closed for that pathway. As new needs — such as transportation, housing, utilities and financial aid — emerge, the community health worker opens new pathways. As the worker closes the pathways, the hub is paid for its services. Hub workers have a physical presence in local emergency departments and social service agencies and are available by phone to their clients. The hub has helped more than 5,500 clients since its inception several years ago. Between the work of the collaborative and the hub, community members can get assistance with care coordination, financial literacy, housing, health literacy, health insurance access, prenatal care, diabetes education, food security, mental health and COVID education, among other services. A current focus of the collaborative and hub is to ensure people do not become uninsured during Medicaid redetermination.

Minding the gaps Webinar presenters said the collaborative has returned numerous benefits for its participants, clients and the broader community. Health and social service organizations are more efficiently and effectively meeting the needs of county residents — and the geographic breadth of their work is expanding beyond Bexar County. The hub’s work is returning data on gaps in services locally, which is helping the collaborative and others to think through how those gaps could be closed. And residents are becoming more empowered to gain stability in their lives, said webinar presenters. Hill said the collaborative enforces accountability for outcomes, has achieved increased equity in the delivery of services, has promoted the common good, and has seen people’s well-being improve. “People are flourishing,” she said. Visit chausa.org/chw to learn about CommonSpirit Health’s use of the Pathways model. jminda@chausa.org