It can be a challenge for Catholic health systems that have international outposts or affiliates to ensure that those locations function as part of the whole and that those far-flung staff feel connected to and engaged with the broader organization.
A sampling of mission leaders at U.S.-based Catholic health systems with international operations or affiliates say their systems are finding that ministry formation can be an effective tool for unifying employees and affiliates — even across great distances — under a common culture, mission and identity.
These experts say CHA's "Framework for Ministry Formation" and related resources have proven essential in developing these programs, building out the content and making sure it is tailored to the needs of their associates and affiliates — wherever they are located.
"It can be challenging to balance the local realities (of our individual ministries) with the alignment we're seeking as a system, but we are all part of a beautiful global community that is rooted in shared values and a shared purpose," says Ryan Conklin, program director of ministry formation for CHRISTUS Health. He says the complexion of these ministries "reflects the universality of the Catholic Church and of Catholic health care."
Speaking the same language
Conklin acknowledges that unifying individual locations can be difficult even within the same city or state, much less across multiple countries. CHRISTUS Health has about 68,000 associates and physicians across three states and three Central and South American nations. Its international locations are the CHRISTUS Muguerza Sistema de Salud, with several dozen hospitals across seven Mexican states; the CHRISTUS Colombia partnership covering two acute care and inpatient facilities and three outpatient clinics and surgery centers; and the Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS Health partnership involving CHRISTUS Health and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The Chilean venture involves 15 facilities.
Conklin says as with its U.S. ministries, CHRISTUS Health developed its formation programming for its Central and South American staff and affiliates organically, meeting with their leadership and some of their staff in-person to tailor formation programs to their localities. The main goals, he says, are to provide board members, executives, mid-level managers and frontline workers with the tools they need to understand and embrace CHRISTUS Health's mission. This way, they can all feel a part of the same culture and "speak the same language" when it comes to the Catholic identity of the system, he says.
He explains that all CHRISTUS Health facilities use similarly structured formation programs. For all colleagues, formative concepts are woven into orientation, celebrations, reflections, mission storytelling and prayers. All ministries have access to separate, formal programs for board member, executive leader and mid-level leader formation.
Conklin says, "We are crossing borders to pull people into the same anthropological principles of who we are and what we are called to."
Ascension ministry partners
Ascension, which has about 97,000 associates and 23,100 aligned providers across 15 U.S. states, contracts with companies in India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines for back-office services, including information technology, finance and revenue cycle support. These overseas staff are employed by partner companies, not by Ascension. Ascension calls these staff "ministry partners."
Chad Raith, now in a new role as Ascension Texas chief mission integration officer, says Ascension's chief information officer had experienced the profound impact of mission integration within his own team and therefore wanted to implement formation programming to engage the ministry partners and connect them to the Ascension culture, values and purpose.
Raith led that effort, traveling overseas to build relationships with the local leadership and staff of those companies and to work with them to tailor Ascension's formation programming to those companies' idiosyncrasies. Working closely with the central formation team at the system, this effort included integrating formation elements into orientation and onboarding and creating sessions where employees learn about spirituality, reflection and prayer to discover connections between their own personal spirituality and their work as a partner of Ascension. The U.S. team also tailored Ascension's leadership formation for the overseas companies.
Ascension Ministry Formation Director Alyssa Foll says in building out the programming, Ascension prioritized cultural humility and respecting the local people, their culture and their heritage. The team implementing the programming sought the buy-in of the companies' leadership, including by providing hard evidence of formation's positive impact on indicators such as associate engagement and retention. The team also identified champions on the companies' staff to bring passion and enthusiasm to the programs.
Raith and Foll say this work has resulted in these ministry partners feeling more engaged and personally invested in their roles, and some of the staff have said the formation changed their lives for the better.
Foll says "people find meaning through the connections" they experience in formation programs.
Connection at Bon Secours Ireland
Bon Secours Ireland, a market of Bon Secours Mercy Health, has a legacy that dates to 1861. Bon Secours Ireland, which has five hospitals, is wholly owned by Bon Secours Mercy Health. That system has 47 hospitals and about 60,000 employees between the U.S. and Ireland.
Stephen Taluja is chief sponsorship and ministry formation officer for the system and Bon Secours Ireland, and Lyle Weiss is system director of spirituality and ministry formation. They say given that Bon Secours Mercy Health has a long history and storied legacy in Ireland and nearly 70% of Irish people identify as Catholic, there is a unique opportunity to discuss the ministry's legacy, culture and Catholic identity.
Bon Secours Mercy Health has used formation programming as a vehicle to inculcate Bon Secours Ireland leadership and staff into foundational aspects of the organization and to help them connect their own purpose to that of the system. Bon Secours Mercy Health has adapted its Foundations of Catholic Health executive program, its senior leadership course and its Called to Serve programming for all associates to the needs of the localities.
Weiss says, "The goal is to deepen their awareness and understanding of our identity as a ministry of the Catholic Church." Taluja says, "We're helping people surface their spirituality."
Weiss adds that the system team, which is based in the U.S., is intentional about being culturally sensitive and culturally relevant when building out the programming. Taluja adds, "Formation is invitational."
Bon Secours Mercy Health has opened a facility in the Philippines and is working with on-the-ground contacts to develop formation programming for that wholly owned ministry.
Providence 'bridge building' in India
Since 2020, Providence St. Joseph Health has operated a center in Hyderabad, India, that provides health care technology and innovation services. Providence has more than 122,000 caregivers in 51 hospitals and a network of other sites in seven U.S. states. It has about 1,600 employees in Hyderabad.
Martin Schreiber, vice president of Providence's Mission Leadership Institute, says Providence knew it was essential to ground Hyderabad staff in the mission, vision and values of the health system. Providence hired a Sister of St. Joseph who lives in India as mission leader to implement the formation programming.
The core initiative Providence has tailored to staff in India is a leadership formation program. It includes five modules covering essentials about Providence's Catholic identity and mission. The programming includes in-person presentations, videos, testimonials, teachings about Providence's heritage and sessions on spirituality.
Schreiber explains that Providence demonstrates reverence for the participants' personal faiths, seeking to "build bridges" of connection between their spirituality and the spiritual heritage of Providence. Providence is not taking anything away from the participants' heritage, it is drawing parallels, he explains.
Schreiber says between encouraging those who complete the leadership formation to spread the learnings to their staffs, and offering formative experiences directly to those staff members, Providence is ensuring "formation is part of the culture."
"This formation program makes us all aware there is lots of common ground," he says, "and through it we are embracing our diversity, inclusion and equity. And the bridge building goes both ways."
Further reading:
Providence formation programs draw staff in India into system's mission, help them engage fully
Ministry systems tap CHA formation resources to help trustees, leaders and staff better understand mission