Restoring the health of an entire community can feel like an impossible task. But what if the answer is in first “revillagizing” the neighborhoods of that community?

Editor of Health Progress Betsy Taylor joins the show to discuss a recent article authored by Nadine Nadal, Director of Community Health Development at CHRISTUS Health. Nadal and Mack McCarter, Founder and Coordinator of Community Renewal International, also join the conversation to discuss the community mentioned in Nadal’s article as well as best practices for restoring and collaborating with communities which have long been the recipients of inequitable care.

Resources

1. Health Progress article: Friendship Houses, New Connections: CHRISTUS Health and Community Partners Work to Strengthen Neighborhoods
2. Community Renewal International website

Equity in the work force is a goal many institutions strive to accomplish, but is it possible without also addressing equity at the decision-making level? How does prioritizing board-level equity change the trajectory of an organization?

Julie Trocchio, CHA’s Senior Director of Community Benefit and Continuing Care, and Dora Barilla, Director and Co-Founder of HC2 Strategies, join the show to discuss the following: Barilla’s work with the University of Providence, including the Community Health Investment Certificate program; prioritizing equity at the same level as patient safety; and how community health is impacted by diverse workforces.

Resources

1. "Boards Must Address Equity Competencies" (American Hospital Association)
2. The Community Health Investment Certificate Program (University of Providence)
3. CHA's Community Benefit Website

The COVID-19 pandemic cast a spotlight on labor practices in the United States, leading to a “great reckoning” in 2022. How does Catholic health care fit into the larger conversation about labor?

Editor of Health Progress Betsy Taylor joins the show to discuss a recent article co-authored by Daniel Graff, director of the Higgins Labor Program at the University of Notre Dame, and Kelli Reagan, a consultant at the Francesco Collaborative. Graff and Reagan also join the conversation to discuss their work in the labor sector and how Catholic health care can serve as a trendsetter when it comes to just labor practices.

Health Progress article: Just Wages for the Workforce: Why Health Care Should Lead the Way

In times of financial hardship, it can be challenging to prioritize investments in projects make sweeping commitments to that address matters such as the climate crisis. But with health impacts related to environmental degradation becoming an increasing part of our daily lives, such investments have never been more important. 

Indu Spugnardi, CHA Director of Advocacy and Resource Development, and Gary Cohen, President of Health Care Without Harm, join the podcast to discuss the urgent need to prioritize environmental stewardship in health care work. They address financial incentives to advance environmental sustainability, areas where systems can make the most impactful changes, and the Laudato Si' Action Platform, a Vatican-led initiative to inspire radical change in the fight against climate change.

Resources

1. CHA's Environment Page
2. Laudato Si': On Care for our Common Home (Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical)
3. Watch "The Letter" a documentary commissioned from The Vatican about Laudato Si' and the ecological crisis facing our planet
4. Health Care Without Harm's Official Website
5. Visit COP27's official website to follow updates from the 2022 United Nations Climate Conference
6. How Health Care Can Lead the Way on Renewable Energy (Health Progress article authored by Gary Cohen)
7. Combating Global Warming: Healthy Climate, Healthy People (Health Progress article authored by Gary Cohen) 
8. Thinking Green on Behalf of Patients and Workers (Health Progress article authored by Gary Cohen)

One of the first steps of engaging in meaningful Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work involves examining our own history of racial inequity. How have our organizations contributed to structural racism, and how can we work to be more accountable for the past?

Professors M. Therese Lysaught and Sheri Bartlett Browne join Brian Reardon and CHA’s Editor of Health Progress Betsy Taylor to discuss their Spring 2022 article entitled, “Writing Your System’s Racial Autobiography.” Lysaught and Browne give insight into how their work together started and how they’ve seen health systems respond to doing the hard work of visiting the past.

Resources

1. "Writing Your System's Racial Autobiography" article from Spring 2022 edition of Health Progress
2. We Are Called website
3. CHA's Diversity and Disparities webpage

Communion with the saints is a specific theological doctrine that can feel strange to non-Catholics working in Catholic health care. But is there more to this doctrine than simply praying to spiritual heroes? Can we view the saints as people from whom we can look to for inspiration and reflection?

CHA Mission Project Coordinator Karla Keppel and Fr. John Fontana, OSM, discuss communion with the saints as a way of drawing inspiration from imperfect people who have gone before us, highlighting the life of St. Peregrine Laziosi as one specific example. They also discuss “Inspired By the Saints: Contemplations for the Catholic Health Ministry,” a new series of reflections offered by CHA.

Producer’s Note: Artist Lydia Wood is a Nurse Case Manager rather than a Nurse Manager, as described in the episode.

Artificial Intelligence is changing the world with every passing day, especially in the health care industry. But are we correct to trust that machine learning can effectively do the work needed and will A.I. prevent harm or perpetuate it?

CHA Senior Director of Public Policy Kathy Curran and Michael Miller, System Vice President of Mission and Ethics at SSM Health, discuss ethical concerns that arise from AI use, including complex power dynamics, data privacy and how computers can contribute to systemic racism and inequity.

For more than 4 out of 10 new moms in the United States, postpartum care is covered by Medicaid. But when coverage ends after 60 days, these mothers are left vulnerable to some of the most dangerous complications of childbirth.

CHA Director of Government Relations Paulo Pontemayor and Kinda Serafi, J.D., Partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, discuss tax-payer benefits to closing the gap, advocating for expansion and the impact communities would see if postpartum coverage was permanently extended.

Resources

1. CHA's Medicaid Makes it Possible Webpage
2. CHA's Maternal Health Webpage

Medicaid is an integral part of our health care system, covering millions of men, women and children who would otherwise be uninsured. Yet millions of these people may soon be in danger of losing their coverage.

CHA Director of Government Relations Paulo Pontemayor and Corey Surber, St. Alphonsus’ Director of State Advocacy, relay why Medicaid coverage is essential to Catholic values, define “Medicaid Redetermination,” and explain how systems can advocate for their patients so that they don’t lose coverage.

Resources

1. CHA's Medicaid Makes it Possible Webpage
2. CHA Webinar on Medicaid Redetermination (recorded in May 2022)
3. Official Medicaid and CHIP Renewal Page

Following their conversation with Msgr. Robert Vitillo of the International Catholic Migration Commission, Brian and CHA’s Sr. Director of Global Health Bruce Compton continue their conversation about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Christian Kostko, a consultant with the Catholic Response for Ukraine, joins the program from Ukraine and updates us on the morale of the Ukrainian people. Kostko also highlights some of the biggest needs facing war-torn communities and the importance of working with well-connected international partners when looking to donate material goods.

Resources

1. CHA's Ukraine Resources Page

We’re now six months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and while the military operations continue in full force, it feels as if global interest may be waning. What’s happening in Ukraine at the end of summer 2022, and what is the global church doing in response?

In the first conversation of a two-part episode, CHA’s Sr. Director of Global Health Bruce Compton and Msgr. Robert Vitillo, Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration Commission, talk about the Catholic Migration Commission’s role in the conflict, unique challenges facing Ukrainian migrants and how interfaith communities are rallying together to address the humanitarian issues at hand.

Resources

1. CHA's Ukraine Resources Page
2. ICMC's Ukraine Resources Page

Formation has been called the heartbeat of Catholic health care and is vital to the success of the ministry’s future. In a world where in-person access becomes increasingly complicated, how can systems best provide formation for their associates?

In the inaugural episode of Health Calls Diarmuid Rooney, CHA’s Sr. Director of Ministry Formation, and Mary Anne Sladich-Lantz, Senior Vice President of Ministry Leadership Formation for Providence St. Joseph, discuss the hunger for formation in Catholic health care, the importance of making sure there are formators for the next generation and ways that formation leaders can adapt to a more virtual world.

Resources

1. CHA's Ministry Formation webpage
2. Health Progress article, Providence Cultivates Leaders for Formation Throughout Organization: Building on Legacy So Mission Can Flourish

Virtual care is here to stay.  But what exactly is it?  In this episode, Sandy Dieleman, CEO of Avera@Home and Dr. Carter Fenton, medical director of Mercy’s vAcute, discuss how the pandemic helped hardwire telehealth as a viable and important element in delivering health care into the homes of patients and the important role it plays in helping care for those suffering from chronic conditions.  

Related Health Progress article
Your Care Provider Can See You Now:  Pandemic Prompts New Approaches in Telehealth

Season 2, Episode 39 – The Future of Global Health
The importance of a strong global health network has become abundantly clear during COVID-19.  As Catholic health care in the United States continues to support global health initiatives during pandemics, wars and natural disasters, how relief efforts are organized and implemented requires intentional planning and coordination.  Mary Beth Powers, President and CEO of CMMB joins Bruce Compton, CHA’s senior director, Global Health, to discuss how U.S. Catholic health care can help advance the delivery of health care internationally. 

COVID-19 has created major challenges for the long-term care workforce in the U.S.  But even before the pandemic, there were issues around retaining and recruiting these essential caregivers. Two experts from Leading Age, which represents more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers, provide their insights on this critically important topic.