CHA Ministry Identity Assessment

Welcome to the online home of the CHA Ministry Identity Assessment. This new CHA resource is a formal, self-assessment process health organizations—individual acute and residential facilities, regions and systems—can use to deeply reflect on ministry identity. Through assessment of policies, procedures, existing data and anecdotal evidence, Catholic health ministries will consider the extent to which the values and commitments of Catholic identity are lived out in their organization, identify strengths and opportunities for growth and then develop a plan for continuous quality improvement that can be shared with staff, boards, sponsors, bishops and dicasteries of the Church.

This webpage provides details about the CHA Ministry Identity Assessment, which is available only to CHA Representative Members. For persons who are employed by Representative Members of CHA, please contact the CHA Service Center at (800) 230-7823 to receive access information for a restricted webpages housing the complete assessment process.

“I have reviewed the CHA Ministry Identity Assessment and the results gathered from the four pilot sites. I am impressed by the level of honesty and transparency the key performance indicators require. Looking at the daily operations and decisions of the health ministry from the lens of CHA’s core commitments will make the mission and values of Catholic health more relevant for all involved in the process. Finally, seeing ministry identity as part of an organization’s continuous quality improvement is an excellent way to assure accountability and fidelity to the mission of the Church. I heartily endorse the CHA Ministry Identity Assessment."

Archbishop J. Augustine DiNoia
Adjunct Secretary
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

What is the CHA Ministry Identity Assessment?

The CHA Ministry Identity Assessment is a comprehensive tool a Catholic health organization can use to assess its policies and practices, community partnerships and how patients/residents and care givers are treated using the ministry-approved core commitments of the Catholic Health Association’s A Shared Statement of Identity for the Catholic Health Ministry and the Baldrige Health Care Criteria for Performance Excellence.

Review the Executive Summary of the assessment process and the History and Rationale behind this assessment tool.
See a Letter from Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, CHA President and CEO
See an Endorsement Letter from J. Augustine DiNoia, Adjunct Secretary, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The resources provided for the identity assessment are extensive, and include:

1. The Manual

MinistryIdentityAssesment_ManualCover The CHA Ministry Identity Assessment Manual provides step-by-step facilitation guides for the entire process: from discerning if the organization is ready to perform an assessment, to developing a continuous quality improvement action plan for ministry identity. The Manual includes:

Participant and facilitator booklets for every meeting
PowerPoint slide content with speaker notes
Facilitator prompts and tips
Prayers for each meeting
All prereading
An index of relevant terms related to the assessment process
Scoring charts
Report outline

The Manual is available for purchase in hardcopy and free electronically to CHA Representative Members only (the PDF cannot be printed). To order a hardcopy of the Manual and/or request electronic access to the Manual and related resources, CHA Representative Members need to call the CHA Service Center at (800) 230-7823.

2. Individual Meeting Booklets for Facilitator and Participants

CHA understands the hectic pace of working in health care. As such, this assessment tool provides individual booklets for each of the meetings. With easily identifiable covers, they can be shared electronically or printed.

3. Prereading

The Manual includes a separate booklet containing prereading materials and other resources participants will need in advance in order to come prepared for a meeting.

4. Videos

The "How to Conduct the CHA Ministry Identity Assessment" video walks the user through the assessment process and accompanying resources. In addition, there is an educational video to be used in one of the meetings that introduces the Scriptural and theological underpinnings of human flourishing which is the foundation of Catholic social teaching and the core commitments of the Catholic health ministry.

Participants

The CHA Ministry Identity Assessment is intended to involve all levels of the organization from frontline associates to board members and sponsors. The senior leadership team needs to be engaged and supportive of the process, while the mission leader of the organization is usually the project manager of the assessment. The composition of the Steering Team and Core Commitment Committees will vary depending on the size of the organization but should always be representative of all levels of the organization.

Time Commitment

The CHA Ministry Identity Assessment process takes between three to four months for an organization to complete. This does not include the advance time that may be required to coordinate the calendars of senior leaders. It is recommended the assessment not be scheduled during holiday and summer vacation times, nor during the year an organization is expecting an accreditation visit.

Staff Hours

Depending on the size of the organization and the number of people involved in the process, an organization should expect to invest between 1000 - 1500 hours of staff time for the entire process. This time includes the time required for prereading and preparation as well as the actual meeting time. The mission leader can expect to devote 150 – 200 hours to the process, senior leaders approximately 16 hours, steering team and core commitment chairs 32 hours and core commitment committee members 24 hours.

Process

The CHA Ministry Identity Assessment process includes three segments: pre-assessment, assessment and process improvement.

CHAMinistryIdentityAssessment_Process

Would you like to learn more?

For persons who are employed by Representative Members of CHA, please contact the CHA Service Center at (800) 230-7823 to receive access information for a restricted webpages housing the complete assessment process. If you would like more information on the process and/or resources, contact Brian Smith, CHA senior director of mission innovation and integration, or Carrie Meyer McGrath, CHA director of mission services, at (314) 427-2500.

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(202) 296-3993

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(314) 427-2500

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