Health Calls Season 2 (2020-2021)

Season 2, Episode 40 – Telehealth at Home

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.


Season 2, Episode 38 – Long-Term Care Workforce Shortages

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.

Addressing the Shortage of Workers in Long-Term Car (HP Article)


Season 2, Episode 37 – Understanding Palliative Care
For many, including some health care professionals, palliative care is often equated with hospice care despite differences in how they apply to patients. In this episode Dr. Glen Komatsu, regional chief medical officer of Hospice & Palliative Care for Providence St. Joseph Health, Southern California, and Denise Hess, CHA’s director of Supportive Care, explain the benefits of palliative care and discuss how patients and their loved ones can talk to their physicians and caregivers about receiving care that’s designed to support the treatment of symptoms and side effects of serious disease and improve overall quality of life.
CHA Palliative Care resource page

Season 2, Episode 36 – Environmental Justice
This episode looks at the importance of environmental justice from both a domestic and global perspective. Guests Laura Anderko of Villanova University, and Susan Barnett of Faiths for Safe Water, provide fresh insights into the articles they each wrote for the 2021 Fall Issue of Health Progress. The topic of environmental justice also connects to CHA’s Confronting Racism by Achieving Health Equity Initiative.

Related Health Progress Articles:


Season 2, Episode 35 – Living in 63106
CHA is participating in a racial equity storytelling project that focuses on families dealing with the pandemic who live in the 63106 zip code of St. Louis. Dick Weiss, the project’s co-founder, joins resident Kim Daniel who discusses the challenges she and her neighbors face in their community. Kim also provides her personal perspective on why she is hesitant to accept the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Related Health Progress articles: 

Before Ferguson Beyond Ferguson


Season 2, Episode 34 – Children's Health Insurance
The number of uninsured children in the U.S. has risen significantly in the past few years. In this episode, Professor Joan Alker from Georgetown University and Dr. Heidi Sallee from SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital discuss the reasons for this trend, the policy implications, and what Catholic health care can do to help increase coverage for kids.

» Related Catholic Health World article: Catholic health care works to reverse worrisome dip in children's health insurance coverage
» Read the podcast transcript
» Medicaid Makes It Possible


Season 2, Episode 33 – Catholic Social Teaching and the Business of Health Care
Catholic Social Teaching is at the very core of Catholic health care. But how is it applied to the the business side of the ministry, especially when tough decisions are being made? Fr. Michael Rozier, PhD, an assistant professor of health management and policy at St. Louis University, and Fr. Joseph Driscoll, DMin, director of ministry formation and organizational spirituality at Redeemer Health, reflect on this question and offer examples how these principles are put into practice among Catholic health leaders.

Related Health Progress articles:

Season 2, Episode 32 – Catholic Health's Role in Protecting the Environment
Whether it's wildfires, floods, hurricanes or a global pandemic, we are constantly reminded about the reality of climate change and the challenges we face to protect the environment. What role does Catholic health care play in shaping policy, promoting positive change and mitigating harm to God’s creation? Lois Sechrist, environmental stewardship manager at Ascension, and Rachelle Reyes Wenger, system VP of public policy and advocacy engagement for CommonSpirit, discuss what Catholic care is doing, and what more needs to be done, in caring for creation.

Read the podcast transcript

 


Season 2, Episode 31 – Aging and Long-Term Care
Many Catholic nursing homes and long-term care facilities are closing, being sold, or being reconfigured in an effort to keep them viable. Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at The Urban Institute, and Susan McDonough, the Catholic Eldercare and Acute Care specialist for Ziegler Investment Banking, discuss the various challenges these facilities face and how to pursue policy changes that improve the care our elders need.
Health Progress Winter 2021 Issue - "Aging and Long-Term Care"
Season 2, Episode 30 – COVID-19 Vaccines and Faith Communities
Amidst the public discourse about COVID-19 vaccines are questions and concerns pertaining to moral implications and religious objections. Fr. Tom Nairn, PhD, a trained ethicist and author of several books on bioethics, joins Dr. Reginald Eadie, president and CEO at Trinity Health of New England, in countering some of the myths and clarifying some of the misinformation that has arisen.
Learn more about CHA’s Love Thy Neighbor campaign
» Podcast transcript

Season 2, Episode 29 – COVID-19: Implications for Nursing Education and Leadership

The International Year of the Nurse and Midwife coincided with the “Year of COVID-19.”  In this episode, we hear from two authors who contributed articles for the Fall 2020 Nurses Leading the Way issue of Health Progress.  Sr. Rosemary Donley, a nursing professor at Duquesne University, discusses how the pandemic can reshape the future of nursing education, while Kathy Sanford, executive senior VP and chief nursing officer for CommonSpirit Health, talks about how it has the underscored the importance of nurse leaders. 

Related Health Progress Articles 

Reshaping the Future of Nursing Education

Nurses in Executive Practice: A Specialty for Today and Tomorrow

Season 2, Episode 28 – Special Well-Being Exercise Podcast

Using CHA’s reflection and meditative videos, this podcast leads the listener through almost an hour of self-care exercises.

Season 2, Episode 27 – COVID-19 and Care for Older Persons

Guests Ruth Katz from Leading Age, a nonprofit focused on education, advocacy and applied research for older adults, and Justin Hinker, the administrator of Avera Prince of Peace Retirement Community in Sioux Falls, S.D., share their perspectives on how the pandemic has created new challenges and opportunities for those who care for older persons.   

Related Health Progress articles

Season 2, Episode 26 – Public Policy and the Common Good

A priest and a law professor come together for a robust discussion on how the common good can be better understood in the context of public policy, particularly health care policy. Fr. Charles Bouchard, CHA's senior director, theology and sponsorship, joins Prof. Sam Halabi, the Manley Hudson professor of Law at the University of Missouri – Columbia, to share insights from their recent Health Progress articles.

Season 2, Episode 25 – Hospital Chaplains and COVID-19

The role of hospital chaplain has been evolving, and COVID-19 has created new challenges and opportunities for how chaplains provide spiritual care and emotional support for patients, their loved ones, and fellow caregivers.  Guests Chelsea Leitcher, a chaplain who served with Dignity Health, and Jane Levdansky, a chaplain with SSM Health, share their experiences and insights of how their ministry has changed during the pandemic. 

Related Health Progress articles:

Post-Intensive Care Syndrome and the Role of Chaplains

Chaplains Minister Amidst Changes Brought by Pandemic

Season 2, Episode 24 – COVID-19: Health Care Disparities During the Pandemic

Season 2, Episode 23 – COVID-19: Caring for the Caregivers

The pandemic is requiring clinicians to make major adjustments in how they provide care.  Laura McKinnis, who serves as a nurse practitioner in emergency medicine in the Milwaukee area, shares her experience in caring for COVID-19 patients, her family and herself. Cindy Rosburg, chief human resources officer at Mercy in St. Louis, provides an overview of changes their system has made to care for their caregivers during the crisis. 

Health Progress article: Gazing Through the Mask

www.medicineasministry.com

Season 2, Episode 22 – Data in Health Care

Would you be willing to sacrifice some personal privacy so that you or a loved one could live a longer, healthier life?  That’s the main question explored in this episode featuring Alan Pitt, MD, a professor of neuroradiology at the Barrow Neurological Institute (part of CommonSpirit Health).  Dr. Pitt is joined by CHA Director of Ethics Nathaniel Blanton Hibner, PhD for a discussion about the benefits, risks and ethical and practical considerations around the use of personal data in delivering health care. 

Health Progress article

Data in Health Care: Would You Share Information to Gain Better Care?