Supporters of new Saint Anthony Hospital press Illinois lawmakers for funding

More than 500 patients and residents from the neighborhoods surrounding Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago joined demonstrations at the state capitol in Springfield last month to urge lawmakers to provide funding for a new health campus that would be anchored by the hospital.

Saint Anthony’s plans for the Focal Point Community Campus include a new hospital with 150 inpatient beds surrounded by a mixed-use development. The development would have spaces for agencies focused on social services such as early childhood education, housing and workforce development as well as room for retail shops.

The site of the planned campus is 1½ miles from the hospital’s current location on Chicago’s southwest side. The Chicago City Council agreed two years ago to sell the last parcel needed for the project, an 11-acre tract. The council also has approved zoning for the development.

Guy A. Medaglia, president and chief executive of Saint Anthony, said in a press release about the May 3 demonstrations that the hospital, built in 1898, “is out of date and ill equipped to provide the health care our community deserves.”

“We are asking legislators to allocate state funding toward a world-class facility that meets the needs of our community,” he added.

The demonstrators who went by bus rallied at the Illinois State Museum, in front of the Illinois State Capitol and then inside the rotunda. Among the messages on the signs they held was “Our community deserves better.” Illinois lawmakers were negotiating the state’s next spending plan at the time.

The chaplain shadowing program is important, Fr. Ahyuwa says, because “we need more priests that are people of the heart, not just people of the head. We need compassionate priests that are enthusiastic about hospital ministry.” He says the program will foster such compassion and enthusiasm.

Up close and personal

Fr. Ahyuwa

George West, CommonSpirit vice president of mission integration for the Southern California market, and Fr. Marco A. Durazo, rector and president of the seminary, came up with the idea for the program quite a while ago, but it wasn’t until recently that they began working with seminary and hospital staff to develop the syllabus. West and Fr. Durazo met more than a decade ago when Fr. Durazo spent a summer at St. John Hospital in Camarillo learning about spiritual care in an informal internship. The two kept in touch.

Six seminarians will begin the shadow- ing program this month. They will devote about 40 hours per week to the program. During didactic sessions led by hospital chaplains, the seminarians will learn about how chaplains provide a ministry of presence and how they honor cultural and religious diversity among patients. The seminarians will see firsthand how end-of-life care is provided and the types of ethical considerations that can arise in decision-making. They’ll also learn how priest chaplains administer sacraments at the hospital.

The two hospitals jointly employ six chaplains — two of them are priests, one is a deacon and the others are with other Christian faith traditions. The seminarians will accompany these chaplains as they minister to patients, patients’ loved ones and hospital employees. The chaplains will help the seminarians process their experiences after the encounters, which often can be emotionally fraught.

Fr. Malachy Theophilus, a staff chaplain at the two hospitals, says he hopes that by the end of the sessions, “the seminarians will be able to articulate for themselves a theology of spiritual care to the sick, drawn from their patient care encounters.”

Whole person care

The concept of linking the work going on in Catholic health care with the spiritual services delivered in Catholic parishes — through the education of these seminarians — is in line with an initiative the California Catholic Conference and California’s two Catholic health systems started in 2018 called the Whole Person Care Initiative, says West.

Under the partnership, the conference, which represents the state’s bishops and their archdioceses and dioceses, is working with CommonSpirit and Providence St. Joseph Health to equip parishes to offer compassionate support to chronically and terminally ill parishioners.

Next generation of priests

Fr. Ahyuwa calls it “a rare privilege” to mentor future priests in this way for this essential work of the church.

Fr. Theophilus adds that “care of the sick is one of the most important aspects of Jesus’ ministry,” and thus is of great significance as part of priests’ ministry. jminda@chausa.org

The Catholic Health Association

Mission in Long-Term Care Networking Zoom Call (Members only)

7 | 1 – 2 p.m. ET

2023 (Virtual) June 12 – 13

Spiritual/Pastoral Care Dialogue — Care for the Transgender Soul: An Introduction to Spiritual Care for Trans Persons and Their Families Webinar

8 | 1 – 2:15 p.m. ET

Diversity & Disparities Networking Zoom Call June 29 | 1 – 2 p.m. ET

Faith Community Nurse Networking Zoom Call July 25 | 1 – 2 p.m. ET

Vice President

Communications and Marketing

Brian P. Reardon

Editor Lisa Eisenhauer leisenhauer@chausa.org

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.

Catholic Ethics for Health Care Leaders Virtual Program Sept. 5 – Oct. 17 | 1 – 3 p.m. ET

Mission in Long-Term Care Networking Zoom Call (Members only)

Sept. 6 | 1 – 2 p.m. ET chausa.org/calendar