Health systems combat vaccine hesitancy with conversations, planning
By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
An SSM Health employee in Wisconsin who was fully immunized contracted measles on a commercial flight earlier this year, resulting in a significant exposure that involved both health care workers and community members.
“So she became the second case, and
the concentric circles of exposure just kept getting bigger and bigger,” said Dr. Shephali Wulff, the system’s director of infectious diseases and prevention. “Fortunately, there were no secondary cases from that exposure, which was really lucky, but we had some work to do as a health system.”
SSM Health coordinated with local public
Community center run by Providence hospital is hub of Los Angeles neighborhood
By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
LOS ANGELES — Here in the shadows of shipping containers stacked high at the seaport and oil refinery pipes that reach into the sky, visitors at Providence St. Joseph Health’s Wilmington Wellness and Activity Center dance.
The girls of the Misantla Ballet Folklórico, about a dozen ranging in age from 6 to 16, twirl and sway under the center’s awning while holding up the folds of their long, cotton skirts. The girls mostly live in the area, and the group uses the center to practice for free, says their leader and instructor, Fiacro Castro.
Continued on 4
The cru is made up of about 50 system leaders who meet to talk about flu prevention and who relay messages about things like vaccination opportunities to co-workers.
Holy Name hospice gives residents autonomy, holistic care in life-affirming environment
By JULIE MINDA
In April 2023, Joe Sergeant was a seemingly healthy 63-year-old who had recently returned to his Montville, New Jersey, hometown after a hiking trip to Arizona. Experiencing excruciating pain at work, he was rushed to the hospital, underwent emergency surgery and was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.
Over the ensuing 15 months, says his wife, Nancy Sergeant, he was on a rollercoaster of medical appointments, tests, cancer treatment, news that the cancer was undetectable, and a surgery last May that revealed widespread cancer that could not be detected by technology or blood tests.
During that surgery, the surgeon removed much of his small intestine to bring him some physical comfort. Doctors said he had a few days to less than three months to live.
Healing from surgery, with four drainage points on his abdomen including an ostomy bag, Joe’s condition was fragile, and he would need to be discharged from the hospital to a medical hospice, a social worker told Joe and Nancy.
Nancy began scouting out recommended hospices immediately. She says
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African nuns bring spirit of joy, compassion to work at southeast Missouri’s Saint Francis
By JULIE MINDA CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — When
Johnny Harris was hospitalized in January at Saint Francis Medical Center here after a stroke, he initially found himself very agitated and distressed as he lay in his hospital bed.
But, then, Sr. Margaret Sergon came into his room to visit him and “a sense of calm came over me,” he recalls. Sr. Sergon talked with him and prayed with him.
Harris says that Sr. Sergon was a caring presence at a very scary time.
Bringing comfort to patients as Sr. Ser-
gon did for Harris is the type of impact that the southeast Missouri Catholic hospital and the Little Sisters of St. Francis congregation in Africa were envisioning when they partnered two years ago on a unique type of mission program. Under their arrangement, Saint Francis hires Little Sisters from Africa for various jobs. Those sisters provide a pastoral presence that goes well beyond their formal jobs. And the sisters send a portion of their salaries back to their congregation to fund ministries in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
“Having the Little Sisters with us is a Continued on 8
Covenant Health uses this mascot and logo to promote the system’s “Flu Cru.”
Members of the Misantla Ballet Folklórico practice a traditional dance on the patio of the Providence St. Joseph Health’s Wilmington Wellness and Activity Center, in south Los Angeles. The group performs at community events and displays a banner with the Providence logo.
Photo by Glenn Marzano/@CHA
Courtesy Saint Francis Medical Center
Johnny Harris, a patient of Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, visits with Sr. Margaret Sergon at the hospital. She provided a healing presence during a hospitalization after he had a stroke in January. Sr. Sergon is one of five Little Sisters of St. Francis who work at the hospital.
Family assistance
The Ascension Foundation for Health Equity awards more than $1 million to 14 nonprofits that are addressing the socioeconomic needs of mothers and their families, with a special focus on moms who are postpartum.
Bon Secours Mercy looks to federal incentives for savings on geothermal system
By LISA EISENHAUER
Synod appointment
The General Secretariat of the Synod appoints Sr. Sharon Euart, RSM, to serve on one of 10 study groups that will address key topics raised in the global synodal process. Sr. Euart is on the CHA Board of Trustees.
Affordable housing
Pittsburgh Mercy’s Bethlehem Haven and a partner break ground on a $22.8 million low-income housing development. The development will include wrap-around social services for people in 34 households.
Given success of virtual spiritual care service for staff, Providence expands it to others
By JULIE MINDA
To help staff deal with the spiritual toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, Providence St. Joseph Health in 2022 began offering its workers virtual access to spiritual care through the TeleSpiritual Health program.
The service was so well received that Providence now is expanding the offering to a select group of patients and their families.
To date, more than 1,000 Providence employees and patients have used the service, and the system is looking at how best to expand access to and awareness of it.
“We are committed to the care of our caregivers’ mind, body and spirit, and we want to be innovative,” says Theresa Vithayathil Edmonson, Providence vice president of spiritual health. “We are responding to the signs of the times and to the needs” of employees and patients.
Chaplain support
Providence developed the online spiritual support services after it identified worrying burnout and mental health impacts among its workforce. Those trends had worsened after the pandemic’s onset. Edmonson says this prompted the system to engage its Well Being Trust foundation in exploring remedies. Providence established that foundation in 2016 to advance “the mental, social, and spiritual health for all,” the foundation’s website says.
As part of a broader response to caregiver burnout, the foundation provided Providence’s system-level spiritual health team with funding to create a platform to give Providence’s approximately 122,000 staff across seven states and several international sites — as well as their family members — virtual access to spiritual care services.
Edmonson’s team used the money infusion to develop evidence-based approaches to providing spiritual care over videoconference. The team recruited board-certified chaplains from among Providence’s existing chaplain workforce to staff the service at select times. The team then trained those chaplains to provide spiritual care over virtual connections. Currently 25 chaplains from throughout Providence staff the TeleSpiritual Health service as part of their work.
Brief intervention
Before their appointments, if they wish, caregivers can complete a screening through an online tool. Edmonson says during the subsequent appointments — which can take place over videoconference or phone — chaplains invite the callers to describe why they requested the spiritual health visit. The chaplain then may talk with the caller about ways to pursue those
goals and tools for doing so. The chaplain may recommend certain spiritual practices.
Often, chaplains also will provide grief support, prayers and spiritual guidance.
Pilot for expansion
According to Providence, these digital offerings “have received overwhelmingly positive feedback including consistent remarks of feeling heard, supported and grateful for the chaplain’s time and insightful guidance, as well as the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with the chaplain.”
Edmonson says this success convinced Providence and Well Being Trust to expand the service to patients, and the foundation provided another infusion of funds to do so.
Rev. Charlie Shin is a Providence systemlevel chaplain who helped to develop the TeleSpiritual Health platform for patients, and she is the sole chaplain staffing that virtual service while it is in its pilot phase. The first group receiving access is cardiology patients being treated on an outpatient basis.
Providence has put a brief screening tool in the electronic medical record that clinicians in its outpatient cardiology sites can use to determine which patients may most benefit from spiritual care services. Those patients receive information on how to sign up online for the TeleSpiritual Health appointments with Rev. Shin.
Providence is monitoring how well the employee and patient services are working, using both quantitative and qualitative measures, and that information will guide its future expansion.
Already, leaders decided the service will expand to behavioral health patients at Providence Oregon sites soon.
Deep connections
Edmonson and Rev. Shin say there are many practical reasons a virtual platform can make sense for delivering spiritual care. It can save travel time and expense and be more convenient for the employees, patients and chaplains. It also can reduce exposure to infectious diseases that can be encountered in the hospital environment. And both the chaplain and the caller can be in a space where they are comfortable, dialing in remotely.
It also can provide chaplain coverage in areas where it is difficult to provide an inperson chaplain presence.
Beyond these practical advantages are additional benefits. Chaplains who staff the appointments have been able to provide the same type of meaningful care over virtual connections that they do in-person. Callers have been open in delving into emotional topics with them. The chaplains have been able to establish deep connections with these staff and patients.
Edmonson says it’s been surprising to learn that many callers are getting in touch
not necessarily because they are in acute spiritual crisis, but instead because they are seeking spiritual growth.
Edmonson says the expansion of access to spiritual care services is well aligned with Providence’s “wellness approach — we’re proactively tending to the spirit. This is a great embodiment of what it means to live out our mission to provide whole-person care.”
jminda@chausa.org
By tapping federal incentives, Bon Secours Mercy Health expects to save somewhere north of 40% on the cost of installing a geothermal system at the new cancer center on the Mercy Health — Lourdes Hospital campus in Paducah, Kentucky. Chris Speier, system director of infrastructure, said Bon Secours Mercy estimates its federal rebate on the heating and cooling system at the cancer center will total about $900,000. The center opened this summer. Its overall cost was $14.4 million.
The incentives, which Bon Secours Mercy is still in the process of accessing, are from programs within the Inflation Reduction Act.
In addition to 30% base incentive for the climatefriendly geothermal system, Bon Secours Mercy will be able to tap rebates that will exceed 10% of the project’s cost because of the project’s location and the use of American-made products.
Speier said the geothermal system came with benefits beyond federal incentives. Among the others are that the system is addressing climate change by making use of a sustainable energy source while reducing the building’s utility costs.
The geothermal system has several miles of piping and 36 wells that go 400 feet deep. The system has two other projects in early stages that it also expects will qualify for IRA credits. One is a solar project at Mercy Health — Springfield Regional Medical Center in Ohio and the other a geothermal system in Virginia.
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
Rev. Charlie Shin, a Providence St. Joseph Health system-level chaplain, provides TeleSpiritual Health to patients under a pilot program.
Staff at Dignity Health hospital come together to host wedding for patient with cancer
By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
Since Tomás Hernández started treatment for what is now stage four colorectal cancer, Kassandra Salcedo has stayed by his side day and night.
The staff at Dignity Health French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, California, noticed.
The couple had told staff about their relationship, about their hopes and dreams, about their desire to marry someday.
“They just haven’t had the time or money to do it,” said Monica Ruelas, supervisor of environmental services at the hospital. “He was talking to the housekeeper, the CNAs, and it was really his wish to do it, and they brought it to my attention. And we just made some calls and said, hey, can we do this?”
Within a day, the staff at the hospital arranged a wedding for the couple. On Oct. 9, about 70 people, including family, staff and clinicians, witnessed the couple say “I do” during a ceremony at the hospital’s Swanson Family Chapel.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the place, the couple and Ruelas said.
“I was really happy, really nervous,” said Salcedo, 29. “It was everything in that moment for me, when I saw him, just in front of me. It was just wonderful.”
A quick team effort
When the staff told the couple that they could and would plan the wedding within 24 hours, Hernández, 26, thought they were joking. “I was surprised, but they did it to make everything possible,” he said. “It was the greatest day ever.”
Staff members acquired rings for the couple and got in touch with the San Luis Obispo County clerk-recorder’s office to get the marriage certificate. A staff member who is ordained to officiate weddings per-
formed the ceremony in Spanish at the couple’s request. The nutrition services team procured a cake and sparkling apple cider served in champagne flutes.
Staff from French Hospital’s Hearst Cancer Resource Center arranged for Hernández’s mother to travel from Mexico. The French Hospital Medical Center Foundation arranged for a Spanish-speaking opera singer to perform “Ave Maria” at the ceremony. A former patient who had been treated for cancer at the hospital and stayed
Mercy hospitals in Missouri turn to new way of supporting co-workers with disabilities
By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
CREVE COEUR, Mo. — Mercy St. Louis has long been known and lauded for its work to employ and train employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities throughout the hospital.
A new way of supporting the employees has helped to dramatically grow the program. A few years ago, about 50 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities worked in competitivewage jobs at the hospital. This year, that number doubled to about 100 people in about 17 departments in Mercy’s Missouri hospitals. Most of these employees work at Mercy St. Louis, with others at nearby Mercy hospitals.
Since 2021, Mercy has hired its own in-house employment specialists to work with the employees, called supported co-workers, and their supervisors. The employment specialists put on many hats. The specialists teach leaders and supervisors how to use different commu-
nication styles, how to train somebody who learns differently, how to support coworkers, and how to keep lines of communications open. They work with supported co-workers on tasks like advocating for themselves and signing up for insurance and they sometimes work with parents who still act as guardians.
They’re also there for support if an employee needs corrective action or a commendation.
“So it’s not that our employment specialists will do things for our co-workers,” explained Marisa Hiatt, the system’s director of diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging and experience. “It’s a lot of roleplaying, saying, ‘How are you going to ask your leader? Or how are you going to deal with a situation with a co-worker?’ The hard skills are the things we do daily, right? But a lot of the time, the soft skills, when someone has an intellectual or developmental disability, that’s where things get harder.”
The hospital’s parent company is CommonSpirit Health.
The wedding was the first in the hospital’s chapel, which opened in April.
“I’m a very big advocate for our patients,” said Ruelas. “Tomás has been here with us for a few weeks. And this is not his first visit here. But whatever we can do outside the box to make our patients feel better in any way we can — and this was something that they really, really wanted. And if I can make it happen, if we can make it happen together as a team, then why not?”
Continuing support
The couple has been together since they were teenagers. They met during a chance encounter on a pier while Hernández was fishing with friends.
Since Hernández first got sick in January, Salcedo has been a constant presence. “She’s always there for me, no matter what I say or how I behave,” he said. “We have our fights, because it’s part of life, but she’s still there. She understands the way I think, the way I look to people, she can even read my mind.”
in touch with staffers donated flowers from her own garden, including for Salcedo’s bouquet.
“It was truly a team effort,” Sue Andersen, president and CEO of French Hospital, said in a statement. “Everyone, from the nurses to the nutritional services team, and our foundation and staff at the Hearst Cancer Resource Center, came together to make this happen. It was a beautiful reminder of the power of compassion and the human spirit.”
In the days following the wedding, they said staffers and even other patients at the hospital have come by to express their well wishes. The staff has taken care of Hernández as well as Salcedo, they pointed out. Hernández said he and his new wife have become close with staff that they have only known for a few days. “I realized that you can have family in another person without knowing them for too long,” he said.
The couple is taking one day at a time as Hernández fights an infection.
“All these things are hard, but I’m just here for him,” said Salcedo. “I just love him, and I want to be with him my whole life. He’s my everything.”
vhahn@chausa.org
FMOLHS’ new CEO expects system’s growth trajectory to continue amid challenges
By JULIE MINDA
In the spring, E.J. Kuiper assumed the top executive role at Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, succeeding Richard Vath, who retired. Kuiper has a tenure of more than three decades in health care and has been in ministry executive leadership since 2006.
He spoke to Catholic Health World about his passion for Catholic health care and his hopes for his start at FMOLHS. His responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What are you focusing on as FMOLHS CEO?
Our leadership team is making sure the people at the front line can develop an environment that is great to work in and a great place to practice medicine. We need to ensure that everyone’s decisions are anchored in the mission.
A big part of our strategic plan has to do with providing access for patients to high-quality health care, and access drives high quality in health outcomes everywhere. So we’re helping ensure patients have access to great doctors and clinics and hospitals.
We will be resourcing our leadership development program more. I will visit all our markets at least four times a year and meet with these leadership teams, and will make it in person to market and board meetings at least four times a year. So, I won’t be in my office much!
What are some of the main challenges
FMOLHS has identified?
Staffing has been a challenge for quite some time. And in 2020 and 2021 it was almost a crisis — there was significant need, and it was difficult to resource it. At our system we developed an internal staffing agency to be in a better position going forward to respond to challenges.
Second, from a political perspective, there is always worry about reimbursement including around the 340B program. So we meet with legislators about reimbursement concerns and we educate about the issues.
And, third, there are leadership development challenges when it comes to not just the current but also the next generation of leaders. We’re using our academic partnerships to help. We partner and create pipelines to train the next generation of nurses, doctors, medical technicians, physical therapists.
Tomás Hernández, a patient with cancer, wed Kassandra Salcedo in a ceremony that was organized by the Dignity Health French Hospital Medical Center staff.
Farrah McKinley, 48, has worked at Mercy St. Louis for 18 years and got support from her employment specialist when she moved from the linen department to a more challenging job.
E.J. Kuiper
Valerie Schremp Hahn/@CHA
Community center
From page 1
“They like it, and they’re great kids,” he says. “I like to work with them, but I’m very strict. A lot of discipline.”
In the community center gymnasium, a group of eight women gather for Gina Farfan’s free Zumba class. The women, whose ages go from the 20s and up, smile as they greet each other. Some hug. Farfan explains that the women, if they didn’t know each other before, have become friends.
“I try to be positive with them,” says Farfan. “I always say, ‘This is your time. Forget about everything outside. (This is) your self-care.’ And I think it works, because they really enjoy it — even if they come late because they have something else to do. I say, ‘Don’t worry. Just come.’”
The center, run for the last 10 years by the Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center, is a community hub of the neighborhood of Wilmington, in the South Bay and Harbor region of Los Angeles. It operates in partnership with two neighboring low-cost housing communities. There’s a soccer field and outdoor basketball courts shared with an elementary school next door, a gymnasium, large and small meeting rooms, and offices for Providence staff who deliver services in the neighborhood.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the community center served as a testing and vaccination center and a food distribution site.
Wilmington, a city of about 53,000 in about 9 square miles, is an immigrant community, with many afraid to seek out services because of their immigration status or the status of others who live in their homes. Most residents are Hispanic, and 20% live in poverty. Pollution and hazardous waste, partly due to the industrial environment, cause environmental and health problems, and residents here show higher rates of cardiovascular disease and asthma than those who live in some surrounding areas.
Castro says many of the folklórico dancers’ mothers work in the hospitality industry, and some of the girls will go on to careers in nursing, law enforcement, and the military. When the dancers perform at parades and festivals, they carry a group banner with the Providence logo on it.
Wilmington is a major seaport, where food, cars, and other products move in and out of the country, Castro points out.
“I say this is the heart, the corazón,” he says. “Not just (of) Los Angeles, but (of the) USA.”
Variety of programming
The center’s wide range of programs are reflected in an array of flyers and brochures at the front desk, tacked onto colorful bulletin boards in the hallway, and posted on a monthly calendar. There’s a weekly farmers’ market with local produce, visits from a vaccine van, mental health classes for seniors on topics like healthy sleep and hoarding, bereavement workshops, mental health first aid classes, and help with signing up for Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, and CalFresh, a food assistance program. There are movie nights and health fairs. Teens and kids from the neighborhood use the soccer field and basketball courts.
The center is also home to the Best Start Wilmington Partnership, which identifies community priorities and distributes thousands of dollars for improvements and programs. Its priority areas are safety, affordable housing, capacity building, and resources for young children and their families. The partnership is funded by the family and children’s advocacy group First 5 LA, which also funds a Welcome Baby program housed at the center. The program, housed at the community center, provides free home visits and referrals for new mothers.
Nonprofit groups can use space at the center for free. Melina Yepiz, manager for community health with Providence, says the center serves as a hub and connector.
“We’re an asset to the community, a
combination of the internal programming that Providence provides,” says Yepiz. “We have partnership meetings where we have a lot of organizations come in and they share resources, so we know about what’s going on in the community.”
The center also provides a program called Creating Opportunities for Physical Activity, or COPA, that coaches teachers to create a culture of physical activity and healthy eating at neighboring schools, many of which do not have physical education teachers.
The center also houses offices for community health workers who go door to door in Wilmington to survey residents on their needs and concerns in a project run by the Los Angeles County health department.
“We have come across residents that don’t know that we are even here,” says Veronica Ramirez, the administrative program manager for the community public health team for Providence. “So when they go out and do this assessment, one of the questions is about resources. What kinds of resources do you need?”
Even if the residents say they don’t need anything, the community health workers will leave a community center calendar of programming with them, she says.
Recognition and relationships
Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance, about 8 miles away, and Providence Little Company Mary Medical Center in San Pedro, about 6 miles away, have provided services in Wilmington for 30 years, says Justin Joe, director of community health investment at Providence. Joe was a recipient of a CHA 2015 Tomorrow’s Leaders award.
“We have the name recognition,” he says. “We’ve been here so many years, and that can take awhile, particularly in communities that have been neglected and have had elements of trauma or just not having that
trust. But since we’ve been faithful in being here, then it’s allowed us to also vet and bring in outside partners and say, hey, this could be something you could benefit from as well.”
The center and its programs are supported by Providence’s community benefit budget as well as government grants and private donations.
Maria Flores is part of the center’s health education team, and one recent morning she wrapped up a session in Spanish on mental health first aid. She says meet-
ing with people in person is the best way to form relationships.
“It’s been my experience that when we do have the flyers, it’s not as effective as in seeing us, because once they get to interact with us, they know who we are,” Flores says. “They create that bond. They know that this is a safe place for them to be.”
The community center model has been so successful that in August Providence opened a second smaller center in the nearby city of Lawndale, also adjacent to an elementary school.
Place of respite
The Wilmington center is a place of respite for mothers like Cynthia Ledesma, who brought her daughters, ages 8 and almost 2, with her to the Zumba class. As their mother got settled in the gymnasium to start class, the girls went off to play with toys and books in the lobby.
Ledesma has been coming to class for several months now and loves to meet new people.
“I came here because I wanted to take the stress away and relax myself,” she says.
With that, instructor Farfan cranked up a rousing Zumba tune on the portable sound system. The group of women watched her closely as they smiled and danced.
For the next hour, all was right in their corner of Wilmington.
vhahn@chausa.org
Zumba instructor Gina Farfan leads a free class at the center. The hourlong class attracts mostly women from the working-class neighborhood of Wilmington.
Providence St. Joseph Health’s Wellness and Activity Center serves the neighborhood of Wilmington in Los Angeles, where most residents are Hispanic and 20% live in poverty.
Photos by Glenn Marzano/@CHA
Providence helps assess needs of Los Angeles-area residents
By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
SAN FERNANDO, Calif. — Map in hand, yellow safety vests on, questionnaires on their clipboards, the community health team from the Providence St. Joseph Health system sets out for another morning of knocking on the doors of homes in San Fernando, just north of Los Angeles.
If they’re lucky, that is. Many yards have gates. For safety and privacy reasons, team members don’t open the gates to get to a door. Some yards have dogs. Some have Ring or other security cameras.
“I’m Scarlett from Providence,” says community health worker Scarlett Diaz, standing on a front porch, looking into a camera, talking to the faceless voice of the resident. “We were wondering if you would be available to answer some questions regarding any resources that you might be needing or any concerns that you might be having with the community? Would you be interested? We can come back another time.”
The voice tells her to come back another time.
Diaz steps back down from the porch and toward the sidewalk. “I can talk to Ring cameras,” she says. “I’m used to that.”
Sometimes team members get to talk to residents like student Fatima Vazquez. The 28-year-old answers the workers’ household assessment questions and asks them about resources for affordable dental care.
“It’s good for neighbors who have more concerns, and maybe don’t have enough of a voice, especially people who might be undocumented,” Vazquez says of the household assessment. “They might not be getting the resources they need, or the knowledge of the resources, especially for Spanish speakers. I feel like it’s harder for them to find out about resources and get help with that. So it’s good.”
The door-to-door pilot project, led by Los Angeles County’s public health department, has launched in 10 high-priority areas identified as having the most need. Providence is among other health and service agencies partnering with the health department to send teams to knock on doors. Teams are hired from the target areas, and the project will continue for five years. The hope is to reach 8,000-13,000 households in each service area. As of Oct. 4, teams countywide conducted over 27,000 visits, including return visits, to a total of 9,020 unique homes and completed 1,557 household assessments.
A $75 million federal grant spread out over the five years funds the program. Providence is tapping community benefit dollars to support teams in its service areas.
Getting details at the doors
Providence teams are knocking on doors in San Fernando and in the South Bay and Wilmington neighborhoods, just south of Los Angeles.
The teams ask residents about food accessibility, health care accessibility, and safety concerns. If the residents identify a need, workers will suggest a resource or get back to the residents with one. They tell residents about upcoming dates for community convenings, which they host every
few months to tell people more about the project and answer questions.
The first 50 people to come to the next convening in San Fernando, they tell residents, will get a box of fresh produce.
It’s both a lure and a thank you, much like the branded tote bags or packages of disinfectant wipes they give to residents who talk to them.
It’s a small gesture, but not the only thing needed to build a relationship, the workers say.
“One thing I like to do is encourage people to tell a friend, tell their neighbor, because the word of mouth is so valuable for us,” says Sandra Trinidad, a liaison from the health department who walks with the group this morning. “Even a few doors down we can say, ‘Hey, we just talked to your neighbor.’ We can name drop.”
If residents don’t answer, the team leaves a hang tag with contact information in both English and Spanish. “¡Lo sentimos no hableros encontrado!” it says. “We’re sorry we missed you!”
Building relationships
Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, led a workgroup of community partners in developing this Community Public Health Team project, partly inspired by the health care infrastructure in Cuba and Costa Rica. Each team visits homes in their service area to offer a household assessment and connection to care.
Anthony Ortiz Luis, the Providence community health director in charge of the San Fernando Valley area, says the household assessments are a public health model for improving health outcomes of underserved
“Reputation is everything in these spaces, and people know (Providence). That is so core.” — Tiffany Romo
communities. “This is the first project in the United States that’s really looking at how we develop individual, one-on-one relationships with high-need, vulnerable communities, and really trying to find out what their exact needs are,” he says.
Tiffany Romo, director of the community engagement unit at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, says the effort built on work that continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The relationships they already had in place with the community were imperative to all the information we were trying to put out during the pandemic, especially early on, when the information was rapidly changing,” she says.
The community’s trust in partners like Providence helps immensely, Romo says. “Reputation is everything in these spaces, and people know them,” she says. “That is so core.”
For example, people might recognize the Providence name from going to a food distribution that the health system has helped organize, she says, and then respond to the workers who come to the door. “I think one of the core values of the project is community engagement and having community voice present in every aspect,” Romo adds.
The community health workers input residents’ responses into a database. The health department and partners plan to use that information for immediate and long-term solutions to issues. For example, if people say they have a hard time getting access to healthy food, the partners may look at a food distribution campaign or go to business leaders to open a grocery store. If people complain about a dangerous intersection and say local government leaders are acting slowly, the health department might inquire and push officials for a fix.
Giving people a voice
Each morning or afternoon, community health workers set out in teams of at least two to knock on doors and ring bells of about two dozen homes. Not everyone is interested in answering questions.
“I don’t want to talk about health care,
insurance, nothing,” says one man the team approached on the sidewalk in front of his home.
The success rate so far in reaching people and connecting them to resources is about 5%. That may not seem like much, but Romo is not discouraged.
“We just got started, right? Part of it is building up that trust,” she says. “But I think I’m actually really excited that we were able to get 5%, 6% at this time, because if you think about it, there’s just so many reasons why folks wouldn’t open the door.”
It takes time to build relationships and for teams to develop the ability to communicate with residents effectively, Romo says. “It’s not just about that initial opening of the door,” she says. “It’s about how do you establish a relationship, so they continue to open the door over the next five years.”
Some residents, recognizing that the teams are there to help, are willing to talk.
One older woman named Jessie, who asks that her last name not be used, complains about the lack of parking in the neighborhood and of the curse words she hears from elementary schoolchildren who play nearby.
“I mean, I grew up in a generation where, you know, if you said stupid, you were reprimanded,” she says to the team as she stands in her driveway. “And now these kids, the language that comes out of their mouths, I’m appalled.”
She says she thought some of the children could benefit from mental health services.
Lucia Flores, 74, tells the workers who come to her door that she is very familiar with Providence. She worked for 27 years at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, California, as a unit clerk. She doesn’t have any particular health needs or concerns herself, she says in Spanish through a translator, but likes what the teams are doing.
“It’s a good opportunity for those who aren’t able to go out and get resources,” she says. “It’s great to have that. I’m a lucky one, so far.”
One morning’s results
On this particular morning in late September, the team went to 25 homes, got four people to respond to a short version of the household assessment, and got four refusals. They were happy with the outcome.
Community health worker Ashley Jackson grew up in nearby Pacoima, one of the census tracts the teams are focusing on. Jackson says some of the resources, such as access to fresh food, that are needed now were needed back then. “It’s good to have something like this now, to know that there’s this organization that’s coming out and meeting your needs or helping you,” she says.
Diaz, who studied public health in college, says that she’s always wanted to be a bridge between health care and helping people get what they need.
“With Providence, especially with their values, and having empathy and serving the poor and vulnerable, I feel like that’s a great opportunity to do that here,” she says.
“It definitely feels good.”
vhahn@chausa.org
CHRISTUS Health to open second hospital to address access gap in southeast Texas
CHRISTUS Health plans to open its second hospital in Beaumont, Texas. The health system is leasing the former Medical Center of Southeast Texas — Victory Campus in West Beaumont from the Global Medical real estate investment trust. CHRISTUS Health is renovating the property and will open the hospital in the coming months.
CHRISTUS Health plans for the campus to have an emergency room, surgical
space and medical offices. Paul Generale, CHRISTUS Health executive vice president and chief strategy officer, said in a release that “the Beaumont facility will be an essential component as we expand quality health care services to the residents of southeast Texas.”
Ernie Sadau, president and CEO of CHRISTUS Health, said in a release that “as health care needs grow in southeast Texas and beyond, we continue to expand
our services to ensure that area residents have access to the innovative, faithbased care they have come to expect and deserve.”
CHRISTUS Southeast Texas Health System has three hospitals in the region, CHRISTUS Hospital Orange in Orange, CHRISTUS Jasper Memorial Hospital in Jasper and CHRISTUS St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont. St. Elizabeth is about 5 miles from West Beaumont, where its new
campus will be.
The facility’s name and bed count have yet to be released, and specific terms of the deal between CHRISTUS Health and Global Medical are unavailable.
Steward Health Care was the previous tenant that ran the Medical Center of Southeast Texas. Steward filed for bankruptcy protection in May and had shuttered the medical center.
Photos by Glenn Marzano/@CHA
Scarlett Diaz, a Providence St. Joseph Health community health worker, talks to Lucia Flores on the porch of Flores’ home in San Fernando, California. Diaz is part of a Community Public Health Team project that goes door to door to ask residents about their health needs or concerns with the community.
Residential hospice
From page 1
as she and a close friend drove up to Villa Marie Claire in Saddle River, New Jersey, “our bodies relaxed.” She recounts that the tree-lined entry drive, the lush expanse of the grounds, and the horses grazing on the property’s fields all brought a needed calm. Approaching the homelike entrance of the residential hospice after parking the car — “every step we took, we knew this was the right place for Joe,” she says.
Joe is among the 800 to 1,000 people who annually make Villa Marie Claire their home at the end of their lives.
Dr. Charles Vialotti, resident medical director, says it is a priority at the Villa to not just provide top-quality medical care but also to ensure residents have beautiful surroundings, comfortable spaces, enriching activities, delectable food, supportive staff, a lot of autonomy and control, and a chance to live out their life in the way they want to, to the extent that is possible. He says the hospice’s leadership “has the mindset that people deserve dignity and quality of life — especially at this stage of life.”
Holistic care
The stand-alone Holy Name Medical Center of Teaneck founded the Villa in January 2011 to address a lack of hospice options in northeastern New Jersey and surrounding areas. The facility underwent an extensive renovation that was completed in August 2023. It has 20 private rooms for residents and 12 guest rooms for visiting loved ones.
Vialotti and the Villa’s nursing staff provide around-the-clock medical care, especially for pain management. A team of social workers — supported by a vibrant volunteer community and local clergy — addresses residents’ emotional, mental and spiritual needs. The social workers also offer counseling and support groups for residents’ loved ones.
The Villa also serves people who are receiving home hospice care locally. They can stay on an intermittent basis at the Villa so their caregivers can get respite.
Medicare and many private insurers provide a hospice benefit for people whose life expectancy is six months or less. The insurers recertify patients’ eligibility for hospice care every 90 days for two recertifications and then every 30 days thereafter. Patients who continue to decline medically can be recertified. Those who are ineligible for the room and board hospice benefit can pay out of pocket at the Villa.
Life-affirming
Vialotti says every aspect of the Villa — from the campus’ aesthetics, to the culture, to the menu of services and programming, to the training and competencies of the staff — is rooted in the facility’s mission. Providing every resident with a “sanctuary where every day is lived with dignity, comfort and love,” is the Villa’s purpose, says its website.
But this mission is not just words on a page, says Vialotti. It is manifested in the purposeful design of the grounds and facility to have the feel of an elegant yet comfortable country estate. Those grounds have easy-to-access walking trails as well as a pool, koi pond, calming water features and numerous outdoor seating areas to accommodate patients and families.
Indoors, there are more gathering spaces with modern yet warm décor, with patient and guest rooms with a feel of home, rather than an institution.
Residents and their loved ones have access to equine therapy, pet therapy, art therapy and music therapy.
Giving back control
Tracey Arnauer, director of social work, says while all those amenities are great, what really exemplifies the Villa’s mis-
sion is its staff’s attention to the individual. “We want to understand what is important to them, we tailor their care and focus on their quality of life,” Arnauer says. “We don’t focus on this being the end of life, we focus on helping them to live as fully as possible while they are here.”
Upon residents’ arrival, a multidisciplinary team completes a full assessment with them and their loved ones and then builds out a medical plan. That team also helps residents access the services and programming that will help them live their life more fully.
The Villa’s chef prepares food tailored to the residents and their families, including honoring particular ethnic tastes. Vialotti attests that the food quality is at the level of fine dining. Residents can eat when they wish — there are no rigid schedules at the Villa, he says, noting that a goal is to give residents as much control of their lives as possible at a time when their medical condition can make them feel like they have no control.
The social workers and volunteers help the residents with “legacy projects,” including videos and letters for family members. Those team members also help fulfill residents’ wishes. Staff arranged for a Holy Name doctor who also is a racecar driver to give a 23-year-old resident who was a racing enthusiast a thrill ride one day before the resident died. The Villa has hosted anniversary parties, weddings, baby gender reveals and other celebrations to fulfill the wishes of residents and their loved ones.
“We get to know the residents and their
families. We want them to feel seen and heard and we make every effort to help them live out their lives, the way they want, while they are here,” says Arnauer.
Rising Phoenix
Nancy Sergeant says the Villa staff more than accomplished these goals for Joe, her, their son, Nick, and those who visited during the about 50 days Joe lived at the residential hospice before his death.
“This place is one of a kind — because of the love of everyone in there” and the exceptional medical care, Nancy says.
She says the Villa took the time to understand that what was important to Joe was being with family and friends. The Villa welcomed these loved ones, with the chef providing delicious meals for everyone.
When a young niece was apprehensive about visiting Joe in a hospice home, her parents brought her to the Villa on a Saturday when she could first stop by the horse stable. Informal equine therapy gave her the solace she needed to then make her way to see her uncle.
Aware that Joe regretted he was never able to get a tattoo he designed after he was told the cancer was gone, the Villa staff arranged for a henna artist to come
to his bedside and beautifully write on his forearm, “A Phoenix will rise, but the ashes come first.” Nancy says Joe was delighted with this tattoo.
She says the Villa staff became friends of hers and of other family members.
She says that witnessing the care with which the staff tended to her husband enabled her to turn her focus from his medical needs to “just being his wife.”
She recalls nights curled up alongside his bed in a cot, both of them gazing out the picture window of his Villa room at the stars. The two would talk well into the night about all they had shared and their hopes and dreams.
She says, “We had this chapter that was the most difficult in our 44-year relationship, but it is a time that I will remember with love forever, and that is only because of the Villa and their mission.
“My hope is that every hospice would have this mission.”
Villa Marie Claire’s medical director says living at the facility enables him to deepen bonds with patients and families. Visit chausa.org/chw to read more about Dr. Charles Vialotti’s unique living situation. jminda@chausa.org
Vialotti
Joe Sergeant lived at Villa Marie Claire for about 50 days before his death this summer. His wife, Nancy Sergeant, says she greatly valued the love and care shown by the Villa’s staff to Joe and to all the loved ones who visited him.
Horses graze the fields surrounding Villa Marie Claire. The facility offers equine therapy for residents and their loved ones.
Arnauer
Vaccines
From page 1
health departments and set up an incident command that met daily until immune globulin and vaccines were available to those who were exposed.
Across the board, the work for health systems continues as officials report that more people are hesitant to get vaccinated for measles, COVID-19, influenza and other contagious illnesses. Researchers and health care providers point to politics, vaccine fatigue because of the COVID pandemic, and the spread of misinformation as reasons patients are questioning the need for vaccines or avoiding them altogether.
The issue extends beyond measles, which was officially eliminated from the United States in 2000, but reemerged during outbreaks in unvaccinated communities in New York in 2019. From January 2020 through March 2024, a total of 338 cases were reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly one-third of those cases occurred in the first quarter of 2024.
A recent Gallup poll found that the number of Americans who consider childhood vaccines important is plummeting, with 40% saying it is “extremely important” for parents to have their children vaccinated, down from 58% in 2019 and 64% in 2001. Some of that change tracks with politics, with the declining belief in importance nearly confined to Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and little change in views among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents.
Another study showed a “spillover” effect of vaccine attitudes post-pandemic, with liberals having more positive attitudes toward non-COVID vaccines like those for flu, measles, mumps, rubella, human papillomavirus, and chicken pox, and conservatives’ attitudes becoming more negative.
Gaps in COVID vaccination rates across racial and ethnic groups nearly disappeared in 2021, according to a Kaiser Family
Foundation research project, but large gaps remained by partisanship, education level, age, and health insurance status.
cination schedules available for patients and gets vaccine messaging out through its communications channels and the media.
“Vaccine hesitancy is real, and it’s disappointing to those of us in health care, but especially those of us who have a background in infectious diseases,” said Dr. Douglas Waite, chief medical officer of Covenant Health, based in Andover, Massachusetts.
“If you fail to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases, that’s a societal failure. That’s not to point blame or fingers at people, but to frame the problem in a bigger perspective.”
He compared the problem of somebody failing to get vaccinated for influenza and ending up intubated or dead to somebody not wearing a seat belt and dying in an accident while traveling at 45 mph.
“And it’s frustrating, because we can prevent these things from happening,” he said.
Wulff, of SSM Health, said that vaccine fatigue plays a part in lower immunization rates for COVID.
“People don’t get as sick today as they did in 2021, and I think people are tired of COVID,” she said. “They’re tired of hearing about COVID. They don’t want to think about the vaccine. They don’t want to think about this virus that caused such havoc for a couple of years.”
‘Faith in one-on-one conversations’
Dr. Jericho Bell specializes in both internal medicine and pediatrics outside Jackson, Mississippi, for St. Dominic Medical Associates, part of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. Vaccine uptake in Mississippi was among the lowest in the country during the COVID pandemic.
The system makes pamphlets about vac-
2024 CHA ADVENT COLLECTION
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Bell often sees children for well-child visits, when most vaccinations occur. She believes personal conversations are one of the most effective ways to discuss vaccines with families.
“I’m a hopeful person,” she said. “I really have faith in one-on-one conversations with people, and I feel like God gave me that as a superpower — that if I can get one-onone with someone, then I can get through to them. They may still decide not to do what I’m hoping they’ll do, but I think I can at least make the impression that the reason I am talking to them about this is because I care about them.”
If a conversation about vaccines turns political, Wulff, of SSM Health, said she tries to refocus. “I try really, really hard to stay out of the politics and repurpose the conversation into science,” she said. “I listen to where they’re coming from. What are you afraid of? What’s keeping you from getting the vaccine? And then I steer them back into the science.”
Waite, of Covenant Health, said his conversations with hesitant patients aren’t usually political. “My conversations are usually along the lines of, ‘Really, do I need it? I mean, it’s not that bad of an illness.’”
His response? “Maybe not, but it could be, and the latest strain that might emerge might be much more pathologic and could cause more problems.”
Proactivity and planning
Waite is the chair of what Covenant Health calls the “Flu Cru,” a group of about 50 system leaders including infection preventionists, nursing and medical staff leaders, human resources leaders, and employee and occupational health leaders. They have met several times a year for four years to talk about the previous flu season and to make plans for the coming year.
“We talk about planning our seasonal influenza vaccination programs,” said Waite. “What does it look like for vaccines? What do we hear from our suppliers? Do we expect any shortages?”
The Flu Cru also annually revisits Covenant Health’s employee vaccination policy, which, like many systems’, mandates the influenza vaccine as a condition of employment.
“Staffing during the flu season is always a challenge, but if you have a highly vaccinated staff at 98%, you can have less absenteeism, and appropriate staffing is always good for patient care,” Waite said.
What helps Covenant Health, he said, is that the state of Maine requires vaccines for health care workers and has done away with religious exemptions.
The Flu Cru also puts messages in employee newsletters, adding a fun spin to the communications with a cape-wearing cartoon mascot.
Compassionate messaging
Covenant Health’s St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, New Hampshire, has a radio campaign that emphasizes how getting vaccinations shows compassion for others, especially the most vulnerable. “Our compassionate team is ready to help you schedule vaccinations for your family, so you can have peace of mind knowing your loved ones are protected,” says a female announcer.
That compassion extends into the examination room. Wulff of SSM Health said: “As physicians, we actually have tremendous power in making sure that we protect the public health, because patients listen to us. That physician-patient relationship is sacred. And so when we take the time to have a meaningful conversation with our patients about the value of these vaccines, they do listen. And so then, as a physician, you’re not just impacting that one person. You’re actually protecting the greater good.”
vhahn@chausa.org
PRESIDENTS/CEOS
Andre “Dre” A. Boyd Sr. to regional president and CEO of Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic in Philadelphia and Holy Cross Health in Silver Spring, Maryland. The change is effective Jan. 6. Boyd succeeds James L. Woodward, who is retiring as president and CEO of Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, and Doug Strong, interim CEO of Holy Cross Health. Strong in turn had succeeded the late Dr. Norvell V. Coots, who had retired as Holy Cross Health president and CEO in January. Boyd most recently was chief operating officer of The Christ Hospital Health Network in Cincinnati.
Winfield Brown to president of St. Mary’s Health System in Lewiston, Maine, and senior vice president of Covenant Health of Andover, Massachusetts. Covenant is St. Mary’s parent. Brown was interim CEO of Mt. Ascutney Hospital & Health Center, part of Dartmouth Health. Brown replaces Cindy Segar-Miller who was interim president. Segar-Miller has accepted a new position with Covenant Health. She will help determine Covenant’s strategic direction and will have oversight of its hospitals.
CommonSpirit Health and organizations within that system have made these changes:
Matt Grimshaw to market president for CHI Saint Joseph Health in Lexington, Kentucky, effective in mid-December. He most recently was market president of Trinity Health System in Steubenville, Ohio. CHI Saint Joseph and Trinity Health System are part of CommonSpirit Health.
Trisha Crissman to president and CEO of CommonSpirit Health at Home.
ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES
CommonSpirit Health and organizations within that system have made these changes:
Dr. Timothy Bode to chief medical officer for CommonSpirit Health’s mountain region, effective Nov. 18.
Dr. Monique Díaz to vice president, regional chief medical information officer for CommonSpirit Health’s California market.
Dr. Dale Gold to chief medical informatics officer for CommonSpirit Health’s mountain region.
Sarah Hill to chief mission integration officer of CommonSpirit Health’s mountain region.
Dr. Suman Sinha to chief medical officer of the CHRISTUS Shreveport-Bossier Health System in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Kroll to system vice president of facilities for Hospital Sisters Health System of Springfield, Illinois.
Wulff
Waite
Bell
Dean
Boyd Crissman
Gold Brown Bode
Sinha Grimshaw Diaz Kroll
Saint Francis sisters
From page 1
blessing,” says Gerry Salter, Saint Francis vice president of specialty practices. “Their presence, prayerful approach to their day, and the joy they bring to those they encounter contributes to how care is delivered at Saint Francis.”
Transatlantic connection
Saint Francis is a 306-bed stand-alone hospital founded in 1875 by three Franciscan Sisters. Saint Francis employs about 3,000 people. Its catchment area spans 29 counties in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas.
The Little Sisters of St. Francis were founded in Uganda in 1923 by Mother Mary Kevin Kearney, an Irish missionary who was with the Franciscan Sisters of St. Mary’s Abbey in Mill Hill, London. She is in a stage known as “Servant of God” in the canonization process. There are now about 800 Little Sisters. The congregation’s motherhouse is in Nkokonjeru in the Buikwe district in central Uganda. The Little Sisters have education, social work and health care ministries. They operate and work in hospitals, clinics, orphanages and schools throughout Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
Salter says the relationship between Saint Francis hospital and the African congregation came as a result of what he says was a “providential meeting” he had in 2022 with one of the Little Sisters. That encounter led to discussions between him and Superior General Mother Rita Christine Nakitende about how the hospital and congregation could work together.
Funds for ministries
It is a priority for the congregation that the sisters pursue higher education. It is not uncommon for them to earn postgraduate degrees, usually in Africa or the United States. The congregation then arranges for sisters to work in one of the congregation’s missions, including sometimes through work in the United States or Germany. All the Little Sisters working abroad pool a portion of their earnings and send that contribution every three months to their congregation to fund Little Sisters ministries.
Salter and Mother Nakitende decided to make Saint Francis one of the U.S. locations where the sisters work, and since August 2022 multiple Little Sisters have joined the hospital in various roles. Currently, five Little Sisters work at the hospital: Sr. Sergon as a spiritual care minister; Sr. Julian Oyoo as an accountant in finance; Sr. Evalyne Ekesa as a counselor in the psychology department; and Srs. Cecilia Akol and Madrine Mukaluziga as spiritual care ministers. The five live in the on-campus convent that the Franciscan Sisters had once called home.
Salter notes that until the Little Sisters came, it had been more than 30 years since the last sister who worked at the hospital retired. While the Little Sisters are part of a different congregation than the one that founded Saint Francis, both share the Franciscan heritage. Deacon Tony Peters,
a spiritual care minister in Saint Francis’ mission integration department, says the sisters’ presence now “serves as a constant reminder of Saint Francis’ spiritual foundation. They not only provide hands-on support but also offer spiritual guidance to both staff and patients.”
Culture shock
All five Little Sisters had gone to college or university or had worked at facilities in other U.S. cities prior to their arrival in Cape Girardeau. Some had done both.
Each recalls a “culture shock” of sorts when they came to the United States. Sr. Sergon says in her first weekend in the states she wanted to return home because she missed the food there so much. She quickly learned where to find the food she was accustomed to. Also, while living in Wisconsin, she experienced a brutal winter, unlike any in Africa. Sr. Mukaluziga has had trouble adjusting to Midwestern humidity. Sr. Akol found it challenging to understand the fast-talking professors when she studied in New Jersey. Srs. Ekesa and Oyoo found the university environment in the United States to be very different from that in Africa. In the United States, professors and students interact on a personal level, and there is more flexibility in how assignments are completed. Whereas in Africa, large, impersonal lecture formats were the norm.
And there are more profound differences. In her native Kenya, Sr. Sergon says, it is taboo to be physically near a dying person. It has been an adjustment to now, in line with the practice at Saint Francis, be physically present to the dying, includ-
“ Their presence, prayerful approach to their day, and the joy they bring to those they encounter contributes to how care is delivered at Saint Francis.”
— Gerry Salter
ing holding their hand while praying with them.
‘Love at first sight’
The sisters say they’ve been welcomed warmly into the Saint Francis hospital and Cape Girardeau communities.
Sr. Mukaluziga says, “I’ve been to several hospitals in the U.S., and at Saint Francis, you can feel it is very different, it’s a totally different environment. Everyone has been so welcoming to me. It’s been love at first sight for me.”
“It’s been like a home away from home,” she says.
The sisters wear traditional habits, and Sr. Akol says initially people were almost shocked to see “real nuns” at the hospital and she sensed some felt unsure of themselves when talking to her, but now she says people are so comfortable with her and the other sisters that they feel free to be themselves. “And, they’ve also discovered some of us can be troublemakers,” she laughs.
Sr. Ekesa says the sisters have become such a fixture in the community that even when they are running errands at the store people feel comfortable stopping them to ask them for prayers.
Compassionate presence
Though the sisters’ jobs are with various departments at Saint Francis, they all are considered part of the pastoral care department, which also includes priests, deacons and lay ministers. Like the other team members, it is usual for the sisters to round the units to visit with staff, patients and patients’ loved ones. The sisters also are among the hundreds of volunteers from throughout the community who participate in the hospital’s perpetual adoration program. Those volunteers take turns praying in the chapel on a continual basis for the people the hospital serves.
Sr. Mukaluziga says working at Saint Francis is aligned completely with the Little Sisters’ mission, to focus on care of the sick and marginalized. “We are fulfilling our charism here,” she says.
She notes that the calling extends to colleagues, who commonly stop the sisters in the hallways. She says, “they pour out their feelings to us, and they feel so much better.”
And, Sr. Sergon says, it is part of that calling to “selflessly give our best. So we also reach out on weekends and go out in the community,” including checking in on discharged patients, visiting people in nursing homes and attending funerals.
Greg Heinsman, a Saint Francis spiritual care minister, says he has witnessed the sisters’ impactful work with patients and their loved ones, and he says it is furthering the mission of Saint Francis in a powerful way. He says, “Theirs is a very loving, compassionate presence.”
Visit chausa.org/chw to learn about a similar program called “Missionaries to Iowa” at St. Anthony Nursing Home in Carroll, Iowa. Through that program that began more than 20 years ago, sisters come to work at the nursing home from Africa and India. Currently 11 sisters serve at St. Anthony through the program. jminda@chausa
PeaceHealth plans behavioral health hospital in Oregon
PeaceHealth plans to build and operate an inpatient behavioral health hospital in Lane County, Oregon.
The hospital will provide comprehensive inpatient behavioral health services for adolescent, adult and geriatric patients, as well as intensive outpatient treatment, the system said in a release. The 96-bed, freestanding facility will be named Timber Springs Behavioral Health Hospital. It will be located near PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield.
The facility will be next to the planned Lane Crisis Stabilization Center, providing convenient access to a growing collection of behavioral health resources in the community.
Timber Springs will replace PeaceHealth’s current 35-bed behavioral health unit on the University District campus, nearly tripling capacity for behavioral health patients across the region. Because the current unit is designed to treat only the most acute adult psychiatric patients, the new hospital will not only increase capacity, but also expand services.
PeaceHealth plans to partner with Lifepoint Behavioral Health, a business unit of Lifepoint Health, to build and operate the new facility. The opening is planned for 2027.
ArchCare provides dementia care, support in new Medicare model
ArchCare is taking part in a new Medicare alternative payment model designed to support people living with dementia and their caregivers.
ArchCare, the continuing care community of the Archdiocese of New York, is one of almost 400 participants trying out the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience Model. The program launched July 1, ArchCare said in a release.
Under the program, ArchCare is providing a new payment approach for key supportive services for people living with dementia, including comprehensive, person-centered assessments and care plans; care coordination; 24/7 access to an interdisciplinary care team member or helpline; and certain respite services to support caregivers.
People with dementia and their caregivers will have the assistance and support of a care navigator to help them access clinical and nonclinical services.
CHRISTUS Good
Shepherd
donates ‘Stop the Bleed’ kits
CHRISTUS Good Shepherd Health System has donated 100 “Stop the Bleed” kits to the Marshall, Texas, Police Department.
The items in the kits — permanent markers, gloves, tourniquets, bandages, trauma shears and gauze — are useful for immediate life-threatening bleeding and bleeding emergencies caused by gunshot wounds, stabbing or crushing.
Stop the Bleed is a grassroots national awareness campaign and call-to-action that encourages people to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives, CHRISTUS Good Shepherd said in a release. The campaign, based on U.S. military success in reducing combat fatalities, was launched by the White House in October 2015. The campaign seeks to decrease preventable deaths through bleeding control.
The donation was part of the community benefit efforts of CHRISTUS Good Shepherd, which is based in Marshall and Longview, Texas, and part of CHRISTUS Health.
The CHRISTUS Good Shepherd emergency room director met with the police department to demonstrate how to use the kits.
Sr. Madrine Mukaluziga visits with Germaine Monroe Legrand at Saint Francis Medical Center.
Five members of the Little Sisters of St. Francis congregation are working at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. From left are Sr. Evalyne Ekesa, Sr. Madrine Mukaluziga, Sr. Cecilia Akol, Sr. Margaret Sergon and Sr. Julian Oyoo. Visit chausa.org/chw to read more about each of the sisters and the mission of their congregation.
