Housing and health 2 Elevating the common good 3 Executive changes 7 PERIODICAL RATE PUBLICATION
MAY 1, 2022
Health system, church representatives cultivate deep bonds Strengthening the Catholic identity of the health ministry is their mutual aim
VOLUME 38, NUMBER 7
Sleep centers evolve in quest to diagnose, address disorders
By JULIE MINDA By LISA EISENHAUER
Want to know what is happening in the 10 dioceses and archdioceses that correspond to the Mercy health system’s service area in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma? Talk to Jared Bryson, the system’s vice president of mission and church relations. He reads those dioceses’ newsletters, mailBryson ings, social media feeds and website content. He’s in continual contact with the dioceses’ bishops and staff. Prior to the pandemic, he was regularly on Continued on 5
Given all the interference — sleepinhibiting blue light streaming from phones, computers and TVs, stress and schedule changes from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the yearly shift into and then out of daylight saving time, to name a few sources — it shouldn’t be a surprise that most Americans aren’t getting enough ZZZs. To help, places like the Sleep Disorders Center at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Bishop Michael Duca of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, attends the 2019 blessing of Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, part of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. Next to the bishop is Sr. Uyen P. Vu, FMOL, who works in mission services at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, the campus that houses the children’s hospital.
SSM Health studios to open skill-building, creative space for neurodivergent people Treffert Studios therapists will use multimedia technology in treatment By JULIE MINDA
Grant Maniér trims package labels he will use to create art. The SSM Health Treffert Center has helped him to handle some of the challenges he has faced as a young man with autism. He’s pursuing an art career, going to college and undergoing cancer treatment.
A variety of masks used with continuous positive air pressure machines to treat sleep apnea on display at the sleep center at Mercy Hospital Ardmore in Oklahoma.
When it opens in the fall, the SSM Health Treffert Studios will provide clients with autism and other neurodivergent conditions the opportunity to cultivate their talents, hone their employment skills and express themselves through blogs, v-logs and other multimedia platforms. At the multimedia studios on the campus of a technical school in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, clients of the SSM Health Treffert Center will be able to receive job and professional development training, undergo treatment and therapy, build friendships and nurture their creativity. Treffert Center staff are working with the technical college to create a path for Treffert Center clients interested in taking courses and/or pursuing a degree.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, are constantly evolving and expanding their care. In its 21 years in operation the center has moved out of the hospital into its own clinic with hotellike rooms for overnight sleep testing. More recently, its care providers have begun using a small device to test for sleep apnea that patients use from the comfort of their own beds. “I say sleep is just as important as the exercise that you get, the food that you eat, the water Schmidt you drink and the air you breathe,” says Kelly Schmidt, who has been
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Bon Secours Richmond advocates for survivors of violent abuse System supports justice and safe harbor for people injured by sexual and physical abuse, human bondage By JULIE MINDA
During a recent workday at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, Bonnie Price was again reminded of the vital impact the hospital’s patient advocates and forensic nurse examiners can have on the lives of patients who have been violently assaulted. A former patient brought a bouquet of flowers for those teams and told Price, who
heads the forensic nurse examiner program, that they had saved her life. The woman said they had given her the strength to speak up for herself and to leave her boyfriend who was abusing her, and she was forever grateful to them. Price, who is administrative director for community health advocacy for Bon Secours Richmond, said that about a year ago, the patient was treated at the St. Mary’s emergency department after her boyfriend had strangled her and punched her repeatedly. She had a black eye and swollen face, bruises and skin breaks at over 45 different places on her body as well as a neck injury. Although attempted strangulation may leave no visible marks, Price
A forensic nurse with Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, demonstrates with a mock patient a protocol for checking throat injury during an evaluation of a victim of violence. The Bon Secours Richmond system employs patient advocates who team with its forensic nurses to aid assault victims.
said victims who are strangled are 750 times more likely to be killed by their abuser. The triage nurse summoned a victim advocate and a forensic nurse, both of whom were on-site. The advocate and forensic nurse took the woman to a private area designated for forensic exams. When a victim of sexual assault or domestic violence arrives at a Bon Secours Richmond facility for emergency care, an advocate experienced in trauma-informed care offers to stay with her during a forensic exam and to connect her to social and legal services afterwards. As the forensic nurse conducts her exam and the patient recounts details of the assault, the Continued on 4