Assaults on staff, weapons on campus have health systems tightening security
The history
By LISA EISENHAUER In Dr. Jorge Parada’s view, the declara tion of monkeypox as a national health emergency is both blessing and potential curse.Parada is medical director and commit tee chair of infection control and protec tion at Loyola Medicine, which is based in suburban Chicago and a member system of Trinity Health. He said the declaration that the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services issued Aug. 4 frees up resources to expand testing, treatment and
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
How it spreads Monkeypox can spread to anyone through skin-to-skinpersonal,close,oftencontactincludingdirectcontactwithmonkeypoxrash,scabsorbodyfluids;touchingobjects,fabricsandsurfacesthathavebeenusedbysomeonewiththevirus;andcontactwithrespiratorysecretions. Contagiouscycle A skintimeothersmonkeypoxcanpersonspreadtofromthesymptomsstartuntiltherashhasfullyhealedandafreshlayerofhasformed.Theillnesstypicallylaststwotofourweeks.
Madeline Layton, left, a visitor to Benedictine Liv ing Community — Dickson in North Dakota, shares some puppy love with resident Irene Kessel. The puppy's name is Captain Jack. The Dickson campus has independent and assisted living as well as skilled nursing and rehabilitation services.
The virus was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a monkeys.diseasepox-likeoccurredincoloniesofresearchDespiteitsname,thesourceofthediseaseremainsunknown.Thefirsthumancasewasrecordedin1970.
By JULIE MINDA
HealthAvera SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 VOLUME 38, NUMBER 14 PERIODICAL RATE PUBLICATION
“WhatIsee isn’t just the theythemanyexposuregrowhowoutcomeshardbutthestudentsfromthetosocareersandconfidencebuild.” — Shantel Krebs
By JULIE MINDA
A longtime plea to state and federal government from the nation’s eldercare sector is resounding again as inflation claws at a low-margin industry weakened by COVID-19: Medicaid reimbursements are so low they threaten the viability of many facilities caring for frail and impoverished patients.Medicare pays more than Medicaid for skilled nursing care, covering up to 100 days of care for patients after hospital stays of three or more days. Medicare, along with private pay patients, have subsidized Medicaid shortfalls in many nursing home facilities. But not all eldercare facilities can afford the décor and upgrades to attract pri vate pay patients and Medicare reimburse ments are under pressure too. In June, 22 U.S. senators wrote to the Ministry nursing home financialmanageoperatorsthroughstrains
diseasefrombutpromptsMonkeypoxconcern,notalarm,infectiousspecialists
Avera Academy opens career paths in health care for high school seniors
Whovaccinegetshouldthe The Centers for Disease Control and peoplevaccinationrecommendsPreventionforwhohavebeenexposedtothevirusandpeoplewhoareathigherriskofbeingexposed.
Elizabeth West walked into her high school guidance counselor’s office three years ago with a vague notion that she might want to work in a lab someday. But no one in her family had attended college, so she was unaware of the challenges and opportunities in pursuing a postsecond arySheeducation.walked out with information on Avera Academy, a fledgling two-semester program offering seniors in the Sioux Falls School District in South Dakota the chance to earn credit at nearby Southeast Technical College and shadow employees at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center.
Mercy, Mayo are data partners 6 Rural sisters pull up stakes 8 Big hearts wanted in eldercare 3 Continued on 4 Continued on 6Continued on 2 Continued on 7
FACTS ABOUT MONKEYPOX
CHRISTUS Health security officers Gabriel Briseno, left, and Darryl W. Flowers patrol at The Children's Hospital of San Antonio. CHRISTUS Health is among the many health care systems that have been reevaluating security protocols as assaults against health care workers become more common.
Mass shootings at a grade school, a gro cery and a Fourth of July parade have left people across the U.S. feeling despondent and unsafe. Especially given that one such rampage happened in a medical office building at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in late spring, ministry leaders are asking what more can be done to protect patients and staff not only from the unpre dictable savagery of mass shootings which are extremely rare in health facilities, but also from the increasingly common threats and physical assaults against health care staff.An ongoing focus is on ensuring employ ees have an awareness of potential threats and an understanding of how to respond if
Elizabeth West, an alumni of Avera Academy, works as an imaging services assistant for Avera McKennan Hospital & University Medical Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while she pursues coursework in medical sonography at nearby Southeast Technical College. She decided to apply because Avera would pay all expenses for the courses which yielded college and high school credits simultaneously. Since then, she has graduated from high school, been accepted into a selective sonography pro gram and started working as an imaging services assistant at Avera while she fin ishes her degree program. And West and the 70-plus participants who are enrolled in or alumni of Avera Academy have earned much more. “What I see isn’t just the hard outcomes but how the students grow from the exposure to so many careers and the confidence they build,” says Shantel Krebs, administrator of Avera Academy.
By KATHLEEN NELSON
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 andCommunicationsPresidentMarketing Brian P. Reardon Editor Judith 314-253-3410jvandewater@chausa.orgVandeWater Associate Editor Julie 314-253-3412jminda@chausa.orgMinda Associate Editor Lisa 314-253-3437leisenhauer@chausa.orgEisenhauer Graphic Design Norma Klingsick Advertising 314-253-3477ads@chausa.org
© Catholic Health Association of the United States, Sept. 1, 2022 administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, decrying changes to Medicare’s skilled nursing facility pro spective payment system that “would result in a $320 million overall decrease in pay ments to long-term care facilities.” CHA is a member of the nonprofit aging services advocate LeadingAge, which also opposes the payment system change. In February, CHA joined other organizations in a letter urging a continuation of a moratorium on Medicare program cuts. In their letter, the 22 senators called out the “disastrous effect” that potential cuts in reimbursement could have on rural nursing homes that “continue to face severe work force shortages as they deal with the after math of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Carley explains that independent living and assisted living are in demand and oper ators have the ability to raise rates to adjust to rising costs. Campuses that have all three levels of care can subsidize the strug gling parts of their operations through the revenue-producing parts. Long-term care campuses that are in systems with acute care can take similar steps. Nursing home facilities without such flexibility are more exposed to damaging financial strain. Salopeck says a standalone, nonprofit nursing home near a Jennings campus recently went out of business. More than 90% of its residents had been insured by Medicaid.JulieTrocchio, CHA senior director of community benefit and continuing care, says while most ministry members with skilled nursing facilities also have market rate assisted living and independent living apartments and home nursing care, there are some standalone ministry facilities that are vulnerable to closing. Many Catholic nursing homes have already closed or have been acquired by for-profit investors.
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Uneven impact Eldercare executives at Benedictine, Jennings, SSM Health and Trinity Health say their facilities have been able to manage through Medicare and Medicaid shortfalls, inflation and spiking labor costs at nursing homes because they have independent liv ing and assisted living business lines.
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Salopeck says the federal aid enabled nursing homes to stay afloat, but it was a bandage, not a cure. “The govern ment money masked problems related to increasing expenses.”
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COVID-19 impacted patient census and revenues. During the first year of the pan demic, staffing levels at nursing homes dropped due to retirements and resig nations. Patients needing rehabilitation therapy after a hospital stay steered clear of nursing homes when they could out of fear of contracting COVID. Because of staff ing constraints, some facilities turned away patients, and lost revenue. The ability to hire improved somewhat in early 2021 after the rollout of COVID vac cines, says Jerry Carley, president and chief executive of Benedictine. But the relief was short-lived. Staff numbers declined sharply in mid2021 amid the nation’s “GreatCarleyResignation.”saysthe exodus of nursing home staff in 2021 caused a “cratering” in long-term care census and finances because many con tinuum of care campuses had to decrease or halt admissions — this primarily hap pened in skilled nursing but also to a much lesser degree in assisted and independent living. Nursing homes couldn’t staff their beds.The drop in revenue coincided with a “huge cash outflow” to pay for overtime, hiring and retention incentives and the higher salaries and fees commanded by staffing agencies to fill gaps, Carley says.
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The senators reminded CMS that 429 rural skilled nursing facilities closed between 2019 and March 2022. “When a small community loses a health care pro vider, there is no guarantee it will ever come back,” they Ministrywrote.eldercare executives are among those also calling for higher Medicaid reim bursement rates to shore up an essential industry.Allison Q. Salopeck is president and chief executive of Jennings, a Garfield Heights, Ohio-based continuum of care system with four Northeast Ohio locations. Its private pay, assisted living and indepen dent living units generate revenues that help offset the unreimbursed expenses of the organization's Medicaid skilled nuring beds — flexibility not afforded standalone nursing homes. Still, Salopeck says she wor ries “because of increased wages, overtime costs, agency costs, food costs, gas prices” and a host of other rising expenses. Salopeck says inflation is affecting nearly every category of expenses in eldercare facilities and Medicaid reimbursement that has never covered the cost of care is slipping further behind. “It is an everlasting prob lem,” she concedes. Seesaw finances During the worst of the pandemic, nurs ing homes were among the many benefi ciaries of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act enacted in March 2020. Payments to nursing homes also were included in the March 2021 American Rescue Plan. Salopeck and other ministry eldercare executives say those funds largely have been exhausted, and now costs, par ticularly labor costs, are rising precipi tously, without a commensurate increase in income from payers.
Achilles’ heel Staffing issues, long an industry Achilles’ heel, grew worse because of how
Minnesota-based Benedictine operates 30-plus continuum of care communities in fiveThisstates.year, staffing levels have been rebounding slightly, he says. He speculates this could be because of decreasing avail ability of government aid for the unem ployed and because people’s bank accounts started to be depleted. Even so, Carley says that minimum staff ing regulations for skilled nursing facilities and related fines proposed by the Biden administration feel disconnected from real ity, given the ongoing staffing problems. Salopeck says that at times the regulatory environment has felt overly punitive for providers.TheBiden administration says it is work ing to protect patients from profiteering by private equity companies that have built a significant stake in the long-term care industry.
Coalitions of care Long-term care facilities are using vari ous strategies to improve their operational capabili ties and financial position over the short and long term.Denise “D.G.” Gloede is SSM Health’s president of post-acute care. SSM Health has five continuum of care campuses in Wisconsin and just acquired one on the campus of SSM Health DePaul Hospital — St. Louis. Gloede says SSM Health is taking advantage of the benefits of economies of scale, stan dardization and quality ownsSeniorutiveisbenchmarking.JanHamilton-CrawfordpresidentandchiefexecoftheTrinityHealthCommunities,which32continuumofcare communities and manages an additional 15. She says Trinity Health Senior Com munities is moving toward a more inte grated approach to managing its eldercare campuses and consolidating management positions. Additionally, for several years Trinity Health has been adding assisted liv ing and independent living units on some campuses and, in some cases, scaling back skilled nursing beds. Carley says the pandemic has brought to the fore how vital it is for acute care and long-term care providers to work together. By better coordinating patients’ and resi dents’ movement through a community’s health care facilities, Benedictine and its partners are aiming for better outcomes and better efficiency. Carley says he is encouraging hospitals to join Benedictine in advocacy efforts at the federal, state and local levels. He says their support of long-term care providers’ stability can hold sway with government officials who control payments. Part of the advocacy focus for all these ministry executives is getting government reimbursement formulas to reflect the increased cost of providing care. When it comes to Medicaid — the largest payer for nursing home care — states play a deciding role in reimbursement rates. Carley notes that some states have tried to improve rates and some have not. The providers are also calling for regula tory relief and financial support for increas ingHamilton-Crawfordstaffing. says success in these efforts is crucial. “Long-term care needs to be in communities.”
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PAYERS OF LONG-TERM CARE Total expenditures for nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities: $196.8 billion23% OUT POCKETOF Source: National Health Expenditure Accounts 1960 — 2020 report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 8% INSURANCEPRIVATEHEALTH 20% MEDICARE 27% (TITLEMEDICAIDXIX) 3% OFDEPARTMENTVETERANSAFFAIRS Expenditures for nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities, by payer 18% THIRDOTHERPARTYPAYERSANDPROGRAMS CATHOLIC SENIOR LIVING: CONSOLIDATION STATISTICS not-for-profitwithAffiliationanother 21% Closure 22% Sale for-profitto 55% acquisitionNot-for-profitoffor-profit 2% Since 2009, nearly 130 organization.withjoinednon-profit,affiliatedowner/sponsor.facilitiesCatholic-sponsoredhavechangedOfthosethathavewithanother52%haveoraffiliatedanotherCatholic Source: Ziegler Investment Banking 2022 2019: Percent of counties with financially at risk nursing homes* 2022: Percent of counties with financially at risk nursing homes FUNDING CUTS THREATEN ACCESS TO SKILLED NURSING *At financial risk is defined as having a negative operating margin of 7.5% or greater. Source: American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living 0% 40% 90% 2 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD September 1, 2022 Financial strain in nursing home industry From page 1
SSM Health has been using technology to try to decrease its staff’s workload, to free people up for resident care. It has been rolling out a standardized electronic medical record to make data gathering and use more efficient.
Benedictine is exploring how best to work with the hospitals in commu nities with its continuing care campuses to ensure the health care employers are viewing the local labor market as an eco system and approaching hiring in a collab orative way. During the pandemic, some hospitals in Benedictine markets aggres sively recruited nurses and poached them from long-term care providers. Then the hospitals had nowhere to discharge some patients, because the nursing homes that once admitted people for short-term rehab or long-term placement were not staffed to take new Hamilton-Crawfordresidents. says the labor pool in communities where Trinity Health Senior Communities has eldercare cam puses is one in a constellation of factors her division uses to make decisions about con tinuing existing business lines and adding new services.
half of respondents said staff have departed their facilities with the intent to perma nently leave the long-term care sector.
Hamilton-Crawford says Trinity Health Senior Communities is offering refer ral bonuses to staff who help recruit new employees.Carleysays
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LeadingAge survey found that nurse, licensed practical nurse and certified nurse assistant roles were the hardest posi tions for poll respondents to fill. Just over Ethics Book Club
Agency siphon Allison Q. Salopeck, president and chief executive of Jennings in Garfield Heights, Ohio, says that, as in acute care, many nurses have left long-term care during the pandemic to work for health care staffing agencies that pay higher salaries. Denise “D.G.” Gloede is president of post-acute care for SSM Health. She says the burnout of pandemic-weary staff pro
Fixes The ministry system executives say they are taking a variety of approaches to address the patient-facing workforce issue shortGloedeterm.says
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By JULIE MINDA When the nonprofit LeadingAge associ ation conducted a poll of its member aging services providers in June, the results were decisive: an overwhelming majority are experiencing staffing shortages that will not self-correct. Attention must be paid. Ministry continuum of care leaders say that it is very difficult to keep staff roles filled, and labor costs are rising unsustainably. “Wage inflation and pool utilization are the issues,” says Jerry Carley, president and chief executive of Benedictine. Pool staff refers to agency or travel staff hired through an outside company. Nearly 600 LeadingAge members responded to the Workforce Informal Snap Poll. A significant or severe staffing shortage was reported by 93% of respondents from nursing homes; 80% of those representing assisted living said the same, as did 86% of those with life plan communities. Life plan communities offer multiple levels of care at one campus, aim to support healthy life styles and keep residents involved in the surrounding community. A poll analysis by LeadingAge notes, “the pipeline for potential workers has not strengthened as people leave the field, with members reporting particular difficulty fill ing nursing positions.”
Significant staff shortages continue to vex long-term care facilities
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Benedictine Living Community — Shakopee, Minnesota, mailed this postcard in 2020 and 2021 to certi fied nursing assistants and nurses living within a 50-mile radius around Shakopee. Aging services provid ers across the U.S. report ongoing challenges recruiting and retaining nursing staff. pelled the 2021 exodus. The situation described by the ministry executives is consistent with the findings of the snap poll. More than 70% of respon dents had said the top reasons staff were leaving were because of burnout and for betterJanpay.Hamilton-Crawford, president and chief executive of Trinity Health Senior Communities, notes while the staffing shortages have been worst among certified and licensed clinical staff, resignations and a dearth of job applicants have impacted staffing throughout eldercare facilities. Salopeck says the ongoing labor force shortages and the corresponding necessity to hire agency staff make it almost impossi ble to anticipate what labor costs will be and to plan for other vital operational details that are related to labor, such as resident census. Reprieve Gloede says staffing levels have been sta bilizing this year, though they are not back to prepandemic levels. She and the other executives are relieved that staff shortages have abated, but they remain concerned about the long term. Eldercare facilities are competing with the full continuum of health care facilities for staff, and it is difficult for them to offer the salaries that other sectors of health care can offer.The
The long game Gloede says, “SSM Health eldercare facilities are working to make college stu dents in clinical and nonclinical academic programs aware of the career opportunities in long-term care, including in administra tiveSalopeckroles.” adds that many students in clinical programs at colleges and univer sities have no desire to work in long-term care. She says this relates to a broader issue of how society negatively views nursing homes and disregards the elderly. She says wonderful things happen frail elderly are always safer and happier living independently. Many nursing home residents are at high risk for falls, have other mobility limitations and are inca pable of performing some routine tasks of daily“Weliving.need to change the narrative, we need to change how we talk about longterm care,” Salopeck says. Trocchio agrees, saying that ageism is real and society tends to deprioritize ser vices for elderly people. Trocchio adds that there are some forued and where they feel a sense of belong ing. She says Trinity Health Senior Commu nities wants to foster workplaces where staff love the work they do.
Julie Trocchio, CHA senior director of commu nity benefit and continuing care, says elder care facilities also are having trouble retain ing and replacing nursing directors and facility administrators.
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Roy E. Alston is vice president of security for the 36-hospital CHRISTUS Health, which has U.S hos pitals and outpatient facili ties in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana. He said that as at many other hospitals across the U.S., CHRISTUS Health has seen an increase in assaults against staff and in visitors bringing firearms onto campuses, though CHRISTUS campuses bar guns. He said he cannot speculate on the reason for the increase in people bringing guns on hospitalAlstoncampuses.saidaggression and all kinds of violence is on the uptick in health care set tings in the U.S. and he believes a core con tributor to that incivility is that the nation has failed to deal with gun violence and with drug addiction. He also pointed to the necessity of de-escalating the agitation of drug-seeking patients. “Many of the people who come through our emergency departments or patients of pain management specialists might be exhibiting drug-seeking behavior, but that doesn’t mean we shut down. We have to listen and respond. We must show them dignity and meet them in the place they are at the moment.”
the
Tightening security From page 1
Matthew Towler is system vice president of facilities and construction administra tion at PeaceHealth, a 10-hospital system operating in the northwestern U.S. He said there has been an erosion of social restraint and comity. If patients are upset about something, they are more likely than in the past to express that through verbal aggres
Source: 2018 The Joint Commission Health Calls Bringing
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 75% of nearly 25,000 workplace assaults reported annu ally occurred in health care and social ser vice settings.
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there is an attack. Laura Dewey directs emergency man agement and safety for the five-hospital Catholic Health system in Buffalo, New York. In a racist attack May 14, a gunman killed 10 Black shoppers and employees at a Buffalo grocery store. Dewey said, “As an organization, we are continually evaluating and assessing for top hazards and always strive to be proactive rather than reactive. However, having a mass shooting right in our own community accelerates certain conversations. People (including staff) are concerned, and in some cases scared. It is our job to respond to that.”
Catholic Health recently refreshed its active shooter drill training with all employees, including by providing them with a video on how to increase chances of survival. Decline in civility Dewey said, “Due to the recent events locally and nationally, active shooter pre paredness and response has certainly become a larger focus, but we are work ing to keep our perspective broad. Acts of violence — both verbal and physical — against health care workers have increased dramatically in recent years. These inci dents are not limited to devastating, head liner events such as mass shootings.”
2018 The Joint
Panic buttons
Health care workers Think that violence is "part of the job" Are sometimes uncertain as to what qualifies as violenceOften believe assailants are not responsible for their actions due to conditions affecting their mental state together thought leaders a more just and healthy society your device store or
No going back Catholic Health’s Dewey said, “There is no question that delivering care in 2022 is more challenging than it was in 2019, but we cannot go back in time. Risk factors for violence, such as unmet mental health needs and substance abuse, are seen often in the health care setting and have escalated substantially.”Individuals with these risk factors “are entering our facilities every day and it is our responsibility to adapt,” she said. Alston agreed, “If we could solve the problem (of violence in society), that would be great, but the reality is that this is what is happening in our time, and our patients and associates and families expect to be safe in our facilities and we have to work to achieve that.” As is typical at health systems, Catholic Health, CHRISTUS and PeaceHealth assess security on an ongoing basis and conduct formal security assessments and planning at least annually. They evaluate whether metal detectors and sign-in procedures are warranted and used to screen all who enter their facilities. They evaluate security camera coverage. They assess staffing levels and capabilities of their facilities’ security officers — CHRISTUS’s security force is armed, PeaceHealth’s is not. They also rate risk and threat levels for each site. At PeaceHealth, said Towler, multiple factors impact the risk score for a campus location, including its trauma level, whether it has a dedicated adult behav ioral health unit, emergency department volume, the number of behavioral health holds on average in the emergency depart ment, the community crime rate, and its workplace violence rate. Towler said the assessments and risk factor rankings inform changes in security protocols and investments.
Chris Pugh, an Ascension St. Vincent offi cer, told local station WEVV – TV News. In June, CHA joined with six health care associations to voice support for the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees Act, proposed legislation to provide federal protections for workers who experience violence or threats in their workplace. Towler said as threats have been increas ing in recent years, PeaceHealth has implemented tighter security measures. It centralized monitoring of security cam eras, increased security officer patrols in freestanding buildings on hospital cam puses and elsewhere. It installed panic but tons that link staff in far-flung facilities to PeaceHealth security officers who can sum mon the PeaceHealthpolice. is exploring how proto cols implemented in hospitals to prevent infant abduction — including doors that lock automatically when infants are taken near an exit without their parent — could be used in off-site locations. The lockdown concept could be applied to preventing entry from outside in the case of civil unrest, protest or active shooter threats.
CHRISTUS also is now ensuring all security officers have standard creden tials as level III commissioned security offi cers cleared to carry weapons. CHRISTUS directly employs its security officers, who undergo psychological evaluation before they are hired.
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Source: Commission sion, which can escalate into assault.
AlstonVIOLENCE
Towler noted that “with careful consid eration to protect patient privacy and avoid unconscious bias, PeaceHealth can docu ment incidents in the chart of a patient who has become violent at a PeaceHealth facil ity.” He said this provides additional sup port for PeaceHealth clinicians to develop confidential, proactive care plans for those patients.Alston said CHRISTUS is addressing the increasing threats by standardizing best security practices across its system. This includes encouraging security officers to be more visible and to engage with patients and visitors at its hospital and freestand ing sites.
AGAINST HEALTH CARE WORKERS IS GROSSLY UNDERREPORTED Only 30% of nurses report incidents of violence Only 26% of departmentemergencyphysciansreportviolentincidents
On Aug. 2, Ascension St. Vincent Evans ville in Indiana commissioned the inaugu ral four officers in the first in-house police force in the Ascension system. The Indiana legislature passed a law in 2013 allowing hospitals to establish their own police force. This gives hospitals the ability to handle vio lence on their campuses administratively or through the criminal justice system, Capt.
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noted that much of the training focuses on how to respond with compas sion when a patient or family members are agitated and tensions are ratcheting up. It is always important to attempt to de-escalate the situation, he said, and if a patient is experiencing an acute mental health epi sode, to get them the right resources “to help them Catholicheal.”Health has been mandating annual active shooter training for all its associates and offering additional training based on evolving needs. Dewey said after a May 14 mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store, Catholic Health responded to height ened employee concerns about safety by creating a new training video for staff.
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De-escalation Towler said PeaceHealth trains its employees on active shooter scenarios and on techniques to prevent escalation of risky situations. Security and nursing staffs have gotten priority in the de-escalation training. As violence in health care settings has increased, he noted, “There is a greater urgency to conduct the training for all (staff) since this type of incident is so unpredictable.”Towlersaid the training involves “the early identification of threats” and actions to prevent a situation from escalating. Par ticipants learn methods to calm tempers and when to call a “Code Gray” for security assistance to head off violence. Staff learns in the session the impor tance of listening intently to ascertain what a flustered or angry patient or fam ily member is trying to communicate and how to offer solutions to address the issues. Instructors explain how clinicians can set boundaries and expectations for civil behavior on the part of patients and visi tors. A staffer may say, “You cannot raise your voice or make threats. If you do, secu rity will be called, and you may not get the help you are asking for.” Staff are advised to be familiar with their environment and know the location of safe rooms and the best routes to use to get out in a crisis.
Quick drills CHRISTUS has ramped up its active attacker trainings over the past year, using active shooter drills in both its inpatient and outpatient facilities. In these seven-minute exercises, security team members carry out a mock attack. Afterward they offer a cri tique and point out missed opportunities to interrupt or escape an assailant. Patients and visitors are given the option to remain in the drill area as observers and then con tribute to the discussion. Alston noted there’s been an emphasis on conducting the drills in outpatient offices. He said of the drills, “We keep it sharp. Our (staff) are very busy.” Not many employees can break from their work any longer than seven minutes. But, Alston said, that is not a detriment since most active attacker situations are over in a few explosive minutes. The rapid pace of train ing drills make participants aware of how fast dangerous situations can unfold and how many people could be killed or injured withinElizabethminutes.Mellon, CHRISTUS’s direc tor of HR strategy, noted that employee responses to survey questions on safety and security yield valuable actionable informa tion. For instance, employees might report a broken lock on a door or a hallway that makes it accessible to outsiders when it should not be.
Developed with a retired emergency management professional from the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Emergency Preparedness, the video dem onstrates the run, hide, fight protocol. It’s required viewing for all Catholic Health employees, and the system has trained managers at all its facilities to guide staff in practicing in their own departments what they’ve learned.
“CHA has great resources that were used as part of the program and I can already use the information presented in my day to day activities.”
By JULIE MINDA Since a security threat can arise at any health system facility at any time, security experts from three ministry systems said it’s important to involve all staff in security preparedness.“High-risksituations can occur quickly, and preparedness can save your life,” said Matthew Towler, system vice president of facilities and construction administration at PeaceHealth.RoyE.Alston, vice president of security for CHRISTUS Health, said, “We accept that we cannot get rid of all risk, so we involve the associates as part of the (security) team. They have their eyes and ears on the campuses.”Alstonsaid security is top of mind for CHRISTUS staff, especially in the aftermath of several mass shootings in recent months including a gunman’s attack in June that killed four people and injured others in an outpatient building on the Saint Francis Hospital campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. CHRISTUS communicates with all staff members in all of its facilities on potential security threats. “Our training has been going on for several years, however, we’ve had the opportunity to reboot our training, making it more impactful and relatable to our associates and others in recent years,” Alston said.
Staff in mission, finance/tax, population health, strategic planning, diversity and inclusion, communications, government relations, and compliance who want to learn about the important relationship of their work and community benefit/community health.
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“We empower our teams to take their personal security seriously,” Alston said. Among the advice the security officers deliver during training: associates should
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What you will learn: Taught by community benefit leaders, the program will cover what counts as community benefit; how to plan, evaluate and report on community benefit programs; accounting principles and a public policy update. Who should attend: New community benefit professionals who want a comprehensive overview of all aspects of community benefit programming.
Laura Dewey, director of emergency management and safety for the Catholic Health system in Buffalo, New York, says, “In health care, we adapt and change based on need, and there has been an unarguable escalation in violence recently. Some of our associates expressed concerns after hearing about tragedies (recent shootings), so we listened and responded with new training based on that.” Run, hide, fight Every few months CHRISTUS conducts active attacker training with all associates, and does so on an as-needed basis when leadership requests it. The sessions are tailored to each department’s location, cir cumstances and logistical considerations. In the sessions, security guards instruct staff on how to be aware of their surroundings and to use the “run, hide, fight” protocol if someone attacks them, with or without a weapon. Alston said CHRISTUS encour ages staff members to think through what their response would be to various types of assaults that they could be faced with and to talk with the security guards leading the instruction about how the associates should respond.
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When violence erupts, knowing how to react can prevent injury, save lives not let unknown people into their work areas and they should not let people with out badges enter areas that require badges for Alstonentry.
Taylor said monkeypox is far from reaching the designation of a pandemic because it isn’t contagious or widespread enough and because it is not posing a severe risk of death. As of mid-August, the CDC had no reports of deaths linked to monkeypox. No agency appeared to be tracking hospitalizations from the virus nationwide. As for any illness, Taylor said, the threat of monkeypox was worst for those whose health is already compromised, such as the frail elderly and people with chronic medi cal conditions. “I’m not as concerned about the health risks as when COVID began and I feel like we’re prepared to take it on, but of course any communicable disease is some thing to be concerned about and we want to limit the spread as much as possible,” she said.
From page 1
Men line up at one of three walk-up DC Health department monkeypox vaccination clinics in Washington on Aug. 5.
One of the benefits of a new collabora tion between Mercy and Mayo Clinic will be to advance both systems’ efforts to provide proactive care, says Dr. John Mohart, president of Mercy communities. Mohart leads operations for the more than 40 hospitals within the four-state Mercy system, which is based in St. Louis. “In health care, we’ve always been so reactive, waiting for patients with symptoms or problems to visit us, but we know the future is to be more proactive,” Mohart explains. “With this, we can have more of the approach where we detect dis ease earlier, find it and treat it and get better outcomes for patients.”
Dr. Katie Veron Taylor, infectious dis ease specialist with Our Lake of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said as of Aug. 4 there had been four monkeypox cases reported at the hospital or its clinics. In each case, she said, Monkeypox
the symptoms have been minor, such as sore throats and the rash with lesions from which the virus is spread. Our Lady of the Lake is part of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System.
Mercy expects data partnership with Mayo Clinic to advance proactive care
Parada pointed out that while the nation had something of a jump on monkeypox compared to COVID in terms of testing, treatment and vaccination, there is still much that is unknown. For example, there is recent evidence that suggests the virus could be spread in semen by people with no symptoms of the illness. There is also the mystery of why a dis ease that should be easily contained con tinues to spread. “This has been going on long enough that some of the people were infected when the word was already out that this was going on and it hadn’t radically changed behaviors,” Parada said. “So that concerns me.” For now, the infection specialists said their systems are leaving public-facing campaigns related to monkeypox to state and local health officials. They said that could change if the virus becomes a more widespread threat or of particular concern in theirThannum,communities.forexample, said even though the communities served by HSHS’ Illinois hospitals so far have been largely spared by the monkeypox outbreak, she was prepared and willing to speak to groups about the virus, as she often has done about COVID, if requested. leisenhauer@chausa.org
Under the 10-year agreement the system signed in July with the Mayo Clinic, deiden tified patient data from Mercy hospitals and clinics will be accessible as will similar data from Mayo Clinic for clinicians to mine for information about treatments and outcomes.Thedata from Mercy covers more than 500 million patient encounters from the diverse populations the system serves in Missouri, Arkan sas, Kansas and Oklahoma, Mohart says. The data goes back 14 years to when Mercy was one of the first adopters of an electronic medical records system. Mayo Clinic uses the same records system, which is Epic.Mohart says Mercy’s data will comple ment Mayo Clinic’s, which comes mostly from specialty and highly complex care. “It is to combine our resources to elevate both of us, but really for the common good,” he says of the partnership.
Dr. Charles Bailey, infectious disease specialist at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California, said that despite being in the state with the second-highest case count, even populous Orange County, where Mis sion Hospital is located, has had relatively few monkeypox diagnoses.
stuff like that and what precautions we need to do,” she Meanwhile,said. she said people who suspect that they might have been infected are likely aware that they should avoid close contact with others and get tested, just as they have been urged to do for the last two years for suspected cases of COVID. Treatments, vaccine scarce The bigger challenge, people closely watching the monkeypox outbreak said, is providing the testing, treatment and vacci nations — all of which are, or until recently were, in limited supply.
The agency is overseeing distribution of the drugs, which are in limited supply and mostly available through state and local health departments. Those agencies are setting their own rules on who can get the vaccinations.InLouisiana, the state Department of Health has set up a monkeypox page on its website. It notes that “given how little vac cine we have received” only two groups are eligible: those with known exposures and those with a high risk of exposure. It says the second group includes men who have had sex with men in the last 14 days.
By LISA EISENHAUER
She noted that while monkeypox tests are not readily available at drugstores, as COVID tests have become, the testing is more accessible than testing was for the coronavirus early on. Also unlike in the early days of COVID, there are treatments available for monkey pox. However, Parada noted that the medi cations aren’t exactly easy to access. For example, tecovirimat, a medication com monly called TPOXX, is being used to treat the virus although it hasn’t gotten approval from the Food and Drug Administration for any use except to treat smallpox. The drug is only being supplied by the CDC through state and local agencies and given to patients who sign a five-page informed consent. Vaccines, too, are not easily accessible.
The nonprofit Mayo Clinic is based in Rochester, Minnesota. It has major cam puses in Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona, and Jacksonville, Florida, and dozens of smaller locations in several states. Technological innovations — including in cloud-based architecture, artificial intel ligence and machine learning — have made it possible to explore Mercy’s and Mayo Clinic’s clinical data without that data being extracted or transferred between the sys tems and to do so in real time, Mohart says. He explains that the research will help develop algorithms that lead to earlier detection of illness, new treatment path ways and best practices for clinicians. For example, Mohart, who is a cardiolo gist, says the distributed data platform the collaboration is creating would allow him to search Mercy and Mayo Clinic records for cases involving rare conditions as a guide to what treatments hold the most promise. Mohart says the data partnership could pave the way for other joint efforts between Mercy and Mayo Clinic. “Certainly, as we learn to work together and develop these care paths, I expect we will continue to form other collaborations,” he says. He adds that while there are no immedi ate plans to share or sell access to the data platform beyond Mercy or Mayo Clinic, the findings from research based on the plat form are expected to advance the state of medical care in general.
Taylor Thannum Mohart
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Stephanie N. Thannum is a registered nurse and division manager of infection prevention for the nine Illinois hospitals within the Hospital Sisters Health System. Until July, she said, monkeypox testing was only available through state labs. Thannum said state lab testing requires approval from the county health department, transporting the specimen to the lab and awaiting a call or fax with the results. Now commercial labs are doing monkeypox testing and requests can be submitted and results received through HSHS hospitals’ electronic medi cal records systems.
vaccination to combat the spread of the virus.But with monkeypox so far infecting a relatively small sector of the U.S. population and resulting in mostly short-lasting symp toms of two to four weeks duration, Parada worried that the proclamation could raise undue alarm. “My main concern is it’s going to make everybody panic and this isn’t as of yet, and I don’t really think it will become, a threat to the general population,” he explained.Otherinfectious disease specialists within the Catholic health ministry said that while they, like Parada, are keeping a close watch on the virus, they are urging caution rather than alarm in response.
—Dr. Charles Bailey
On Aug. 9, the FDA announced a plan to split doses of the vaccine to stretch the supply. Many unknowns With the monkeypox outbreak widen ing, Loyola Medicine is among the health systems that have adopted a strategy to educate their staffs on best practices for protecting themselves and for testing and treating patients. Parada said the system in early August added to its internal website a section with guidance on monkeypox that is getting continual updates. In addition, inservice trainings were planned so manag ers could advise their staffs at start-of-shift huddles on monkeypox protocols.
“We’ve found the state lab to be an invaluable resource for testing patients, and in some situations they will still be our resource,” Thannum said. “However, hav ing options in how we get testing for our patients is a game changer. It also allows for less manual paperwork as we can follow our normal day-to-day processes.”
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COVID comparisons The fact that the nation is still dealing with the devastating and unpredictable COVID-19 pandemic is no doubt heighten ing the tension around the monkeypox out break, Bailey and others said. They noted, however, that the viruses are very different in terms of transmission and risk. Monkeypox “is not easily transmitted, certainly nothing like COVID, nothing like smallpox, which is a related virus,” Bailey explained. Transmission “requires close, prolonged, usually intimate contact with an infected person. So, the general public is at very limited risk of this at large.”
The CDC recommends the two-dose vac cine, given by injection, “for people who have been exposed to monkeypox and peo ple who may be likely to get monkeypox.”
Taylor and others said the COVID pan demic provided lessons that could serve the medical sector and the public well in the monkeypox outbreak. Taylor pointed out that health care workers have gotten plenty of experience over the last two years at protecting them selves while testing and treating contagious patients. “From a health care provider standpoint, it makes it easier for us because most of the guidance for monkeypox is very similar to COVID — masks and gowns and Monkeypox “is not easily transmitted, certainly nothing like COVID, nothing like smallpox, which is a related virus.”
As of Aug. 17, the California Department of Public Health reported 57 monkeypox cases in the county of more than 3 million and 2,356 cases statewide. California’s over all total was second among states only to New York’s, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put at 2,620 cases. Nationwide, the CDC reported 12,689 cases. Bailey added that the cases he was aware of almost exclusively traced to what has become the nation’s hardest-hit popula tion: young men who have sex with other men. What is most needed to keep the virus in check, he said, is changes in behavior among that high-risk group and awareness of how to avoid contracting the virus among the general population.
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ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES Dr. Richard Fogel to executive vice presi dent and chief clinical officer of Ascension. Mary Salm to vice president of mission and spiritual care for Hospital Sisters Health System of Springfield, Illinois. Dr. Roberto Cardarelli to chief medical Markham Salm Cardarelli officer for Saint Joseph Hospital and Saint Joseph East, both of Lexington, Kentucky. The hospitals are part of CommonSpirit Health.
PRESIDENTS AND CEOS
An unexpected but welcome outcome, Krebs says, is that some students start the program unfamiliar with the health care system and are suspicious of it. They learn about preventive medicine, vaccinations and cancer screenings and “they pass it on to their families, connecting them to doc tors and our resources.”
New Seven-Week Virtual Course WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! LEARN MORE AND REGISTER AT CHAUSA.ORG/CEHCL SEPTEMBER 6 TO OCTOBER 18, 2022
The focus, though, remains on finding a career in health care for young adults who might not otherwise consider it, or to find the right career for those with a general interest in health care.
AcademyKrebs/AveraShantel
About 35% of the students from Avera Academy continue at Southeast Tech to complete associate degrees or certificate programs. Others go into nursing or pre med programs at South Dakota State Uni versity, the University of Sioux Falls or other in-state universities.
GRANT St. Joseph’s Health of Syracuse, New York, has received two grants totaling $600,000 from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation. St. Joseph’s will use one grant for programming for parents on healthy childhood development, and the other grant to train community lay ministers in best practices for providing palliative care in the home environment. The New York Citybased Mother Cabrini Health Foundation originated from the 2018 sale of Fidelis Care, a nonprofit health insurer. A key foundation goal is to increase health care access for New York’s poor. St. Joseph’s is part of Trinity Health.
Country superstar funds play area at children’s hospital Garth Brooks joins in the activities at the opening of The Child Life Zone at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio on Aug. 5. The Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation along with The James B. & Lois R. Archer Charitable Foundation, The Reilly Family and the Hope Hits Harder Foundation were among the main funders for the activity area that is open to patients of the CHRISTUS Health hospital and their families. The indoor attraction includes a sensory gym, open play space, arts and crafts area, recording studio, video game wall and a cafe. The hospital says the zone is designed to get kids playing together, give patients a break from their hospital routine and reduce stress and anxiety that can go along with being sick.
“What better way to continue the mis sion than with young adults going into the workforce?” Krebs says. “The program reaches out to a demographic not familiar with health care careers.”
This online course is designed for mission leaders, chaplains/ spiritual care leaders, clinicians, social workers and sponsors who want to deepen their understanding of Catholic health care ethics. Participants who complete the course will gain a better understanding of how to apply the teachings and when to consult with an ethicist when making various health care decisions.
Ella Goss to chief executive of Providence Alaska, from chief executive of Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage and chief administrative officer for Providence Alaska’s critical access hospitals in Kodiak, Seward and Valdez. Deborah Graves to president of SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital — Lake Saint Louis in Missouri. She was president of LifeBridge Health, Levindale Hospital in Baltimore. Chad Markham, president and chief executive of HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital in Effingham, Illinois, has accepted an additional leadership role as president and chief executive of HSHS Good Shepherd Hospital in Shelbyville, Illinois. He replaces Aaron Puchbauer, who now is president and chief executive, HSHS St. Joseph’s Hos pital in Breese, Illinois.
Avera Academy students visit the simulation lab at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Medical Center. The two-semester Avera Academy program offers high school seniors in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the opportunity to explore health care careers while earning credit from nearby Southeast Technical College.
March 1, 2022 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD 7September
Now in its fourth year, Avera Academy accepts 24 students entering senior year at four public high schools in Sioux Falls. Between 50 and 70 apply annually, sub mitting a six-page application, an essay, transcripts and letters of recommenda tion. Then, an eight-member selection committee made up of representatives from the school district, the community college and Avera reviews the material, giving prefer ence to applicants who are noon.schoolsreturnSoutheastdual-creditmorningsdaystudentscollege.theirbewhoincomeAmericans,first-generationfromalow-householdoraredeterminedtothefirstmemberoffamilytoattendAfteracceptance,spendMonthroughThursdayattendingcoursesatTechandtotheirhighfortheafterEachstudentalso meets weekly with Krebs, who fills them in on the department they will visit that Friday. She explains a bit about the different skill sets and prepara tions necessary to perform the work they will observe and gives a brief rundown on terminology they might hear and what to expect.Through the course of the two-semes ter program, students visit 37 clinical and administrative departments throughout Avera McKennan. Departments may host one student at a time or small groups of students.“It’sreally eye-opening to experience so many different career paths that a lot of people don’t get to discover,” West says. “There were a lot of behind-the-scenes careers that you’d never think about, espe cially in surgery.” Her personal “aha” moment occurred in radiology, observing technicians giving sonograms. “I had no idea how involved it was, but it touched me,” she says. “That visit definitely jump-started my interest.” West, 20, graduated from high school in 2020 with 12 health care credits, which gave her an advantage when she applied and was accepted as one of only 20 students in the associate degree program in diagnostic medical sonography at Southeast Tech. While she completes her studies as a part-time student, she is working part-time at Avera as an imaging services assistant. Avera pays part of her tuition — a benefit it offers all employees. Though she assists with nuclear imaging, MRIs, CT scans and interventional radiology, West’s goal is to become an ob-gyn sonographer. Three years ago, “I had a vague career path, but this program changed it com pletely,” she says. “The program helped make my goal a reality.” West is one of 29 program participants employed at Avera. Almost 90% of her fellow classmates from the 2019-20 Avera Academy class pursued health care careers or health care education. In the last two classes, Krebs says, 100% pursued health care careers and are either working full-time for Avera or studying to become doctors, nurses and technicians. Of the final group, Avera is funding 100% of nine students’ tuition.
“Many would likely not have pursued higher education and instead have worked for the large retail out lets or at one of the meat-processing plants,” Krebs says, “But we feel good that we are making a connection for their continued education and career. We want to make them feel a part of our family.”
Consecutive Tuesdays from 1 to 3 P.M. ET
KEEPING UP
Avera Academy From page 1 Avera started the program in 2019 as a way to honor and continue the charism of its founders, the Benedictine Sisters of Yankton and the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Avera funds the entire cost of the program through its Com munity Partnership Program, which pro vides sponsorship and financial support for organizations and programs that promote health and wellness and civic betterment.
Sr. Mary Alan Wurth, left, chats with Sr. Anne Irose in the dining room at Benedictine Living Community — At The Shrine. The sisters moved to the Benedictine community in Belleville, Illinois, with 35 other Adorers of the Blood of Christ earlier this year as their convent was closing. They have been able to continue their religious life and connect to the lay residents in their new home.
Sr. Gross
Rooms with a view Sr. Anne Irose is on the top floor of the high-rise with views that include the flower and veg etable gardens below. She helps tend the raised beds and harvest vegetables, some of which go to a food program in nearby East St. Louis.Sr.Irose joined the Adorers in 1946 and spent four decades as a community worker in Bolivia. She says it was only because she was losing her eyesight that she returned to Ruma in 2009. “I’m still legally blind but, you know, I have the whole universe here,” she says. In addition to gardening, she takes part in the weekly chair yoga sessions and in morning prayer gatherings with other sisters in the solarium of the high-rise.
Adorers of the Blood of Christ keep the faith at Benedictine Living Community
From left, Sr. Anne Irose, Sr. Frances Newton and Sr. Barbara Hudock, all Adorers of the Blood of Christ, plant tomatoes and harvest collards in the raised beds at Benedictine Living Community — At The Shrine. The produce is available to residents and shared with Cosgrove’s Soup Kitchen in East St. Louis, Illinois.
The sisters who moved into independent living quarters got to choose between patio apartments or those in a five-story high-rise and between efficiencies or onebedroom units.
Many of the sisters are origi nally from small Southern Illinois towns. For example, Sr. Gross and Sr. Celine Birk both grew up in Evansville, a town of about 550 just a few miles from Ruma, and each have extended family nearby. They and others have found unex pected connections in the Bene dictine community through their roots and religious assignments. As Sr. Klosterman’s things were being moved into her new apart ment, a woman she had taught decades before but hadn’t seen since popped in to greet her. The woman works in the skilled care unit at Benedictine Living Com munity. Sr. Irose says a resident introduced herself by mentioning that she’d graduated from high school with one of the sister’s olderWhilesiblings.they continue to settle into their new environs, the sisters acknowledge that the mother house has a place in their hearts. They wonder what their order will decide to do with the convent and its acreage. Sr. Bergkamp says the order is still discerning the con vent’sThefate.grounds include a ceme tery where two of Sr. Gross’ siblings are buried along with generations of Ruma sisters. The few who gave their bodies to science or were bur ied elsewhere are memorialized with markers around a fountain. A bronze statue commemorates the lives of five sisters who were slain while on assignment in Liberia in 1992. Those sisters’ remains also are interred at the cemetery. A spokesman for the Adorers says the cemetery will continue to be the resting place for Ruma sisters. Keeping perspective For Sr. Raphael Ann Drone, knowing that all her new neigh bors probably left behind a beloved home and contemplat ing the challenges faced by refu gees who have been uprooted from homes across the globe have helped her keep the move from Ruma in perspective. Sr. Drone also has found solace in the Bible. She says: “When we were totally sure we were going to move, I mean when the arrange ments had been made, I thought, yeah, Abraham had to do that, too, way back.” leisenhauer@chausa.org
Warm welcome Jennifer Murphy, sales and marketing director at Benedic tine Living Community — At The Shrine, says the Adorers have been like celebrities since they moved to the community, with both residents and staff eager to meet them. She says some early appre hension about whether a group of women religious would mesh well with the lay residents was quickly dispelled.“Theother residents say it’s so good to have the sisters here,” she says. “We hear that continually.”
By LISA EISENHAUER W hen it came time to relocate the women religious living at the Adorers of the Blood of Christ con vent just outside of tiny Ruma, Illinois, the decision as to where they’d go wasn’t made in haste. The Ruma Center in the town of about 300 had been a U.S. post for the Italian order since 1876. At its height, the convent that is 50 miles southeast of St. Louis housed about 200 sisters. Dozens more were based there but living elsewhere on missions as close as nearby parishes and as far as West Africa and South America. In summer 2021, with the fewer than 40 sisters still in residence outnumbered by the staff needed to assist them and maintain the Ruma Center, the order began the search for a new home for the remaining sisters before deciding the future of the convent and the approximately 400-acre grounds. The Ruma sisters range in age from 75 to 97 and in health care needs from minor to major. Sr. Mildred Gross, a former provincial, was part of a group that scouted loca tions in Southern Illinois and in the St. Louis area and brought their ommendationsrec back to the Ruma sisters and the Adorers’ leadership. The order settled early this year on Benedictine Living Community — At The Shrine, a continuum of care complex in Belleville, Illinois, on the 200-acre grounds of the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The com munity is about 35 miles north of the Ruma Center and has space for about 230 residents. It is part of the Minneapolis-based Benedictine system.Sr.Gross says the choice has allowed the sisters to stay together and continue their religious life. “Many sisters wanted to stay in the Belleville diocese because so much of our ministry has been there,” she recalls, “and our focus as a religious community has been rural rather than urban.”
Purposeful planning Sr. Vicki Bergkamp, Adorers regional leader, says the con gregation was mindful from the start that the move would be both physically and mentally taxing. She and others involved in the planning consulted with religious communities that had arranged similar moves when convents were closed about what to do and what to avoid. One piece of advice the Adorers followed was to move the sisters in stages. “That was very purposeful, not because of logistics, but because we wanted each sister who came to come on her own, not just as a group of 37,” Sr. Bergkamp says. “So the person was welcomed as a new resident of this facility and the attention was on one or two at a time, rather than trying to do it en masse.”Shewas often one of the greet ers of the new arrivals in Belleville and she continues to join them for religious services and other events at their new home.
The women religious say they enjoy the many activities, such as art classes and breakfast and dinner outings, that Benedictine offers for all residents. But they also appreciate that Benedictine allows the Adorers some exclusive use of facilities such as when they
Unexpected connections
‘Blessed a hundred times over’ Like other congregations, the Adorers have seen their numbers dwindle. The U.S. region now has about 179 sisters. At one point, the order says there were about 400 Adorers based at Ruma alone. Thirty-seven sisters made the move from Ruma, trickling into the complex from Feb. 23 to April 7. Sr. Gross was among the first. She came early to help wel come and settle those who fol lowed, including her own older sibling, Sr. Ann Frances Gross. Two other siblings, now deceased, were also in the order. Sr. Gross is in an independent living apartment, as are most of those who moved from Ruma. Her sister, who has been disabled by the autoimmune disorder myas thenia gravis, is among those in the community’s skilled nursing unit. Other members of the con gregation are in assisted living. Two of the Adorers died shortly
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after moving from Ruma and were buried in the cemetery on the Ruma Center grounds. Sr. Bernice Klosterman says the move was emotional because the Ruma Center was the place that she and the others had always considered home even when their assignments took them far away for years. Like other Ruma sisters, she credits congregational lead ership and the staffs of the Ruma Center and the Benedictine Living Community with smoothing the transition.Theprocess included discus sions for the sisters in Ruma about how to mentally prepare for the move, opportunities to choose furniture from the convent for their new apartments, assistance with packing, movers at the ready at both ends, greeters waiting at the door in Belleville and helpers on hand to set up their new living spaces.“We had the gift of having a group of sisters that handled the whole thing for us,” Sr. Klosterman says. “It was nothing on our own. We were just blessed a hundred times over.”
Aging women religious who moved together from their rural motherhouse are celebrities to their new neighbors gather in the chapel every evening for prayers.
8 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD September 1, 2022
CHAEisenhauer/@Lisa
From the Adorers, Murphy says, she hears gratitude that they were able to find a home together relatively close to where they had been living, in a sacred place that offers them serenity and solitude and that is within a Catholic com munity that shares their values. Sr. Gross believes the shared values, particularly steward ship, justice and hospitality, have contributed to the good vibes between the sisters and the senior living community. She says the lay residents seem to appreciate the reverent, yet outgoing nature of the sisters, which was honed by years of ministering to diverse populations.
