Catholic Health World marks 40th anniversary of coverage

February 2025

They say wisdom comes with age — and Catholic Health World continues to build upon decades of expertise in covering the Catholic health ministry as the publication enters middle age and marks its 40th anniversary.

In the first issue, which debuted Feb. 15, 1985, then-CHA President John E. Curley Jr. wrote: "CHA is launching this tabloid newspaper to assure that you have access to timely, newsworthy information of special interest to the ministry and, we hope, to others involved and concerned with health care in America as well."

The issue included two major headlines on its front page. The first, "CHA calls for National Commission on Health Policy," topped a story that called on national leaders to establish a bipartisan national commission to undertake a study to make recommendations to ensure quality health care access to all Americans.

Catholic Health World debuted Feb. 15, 1985.

 

The second headline, "CHA demands apology for Regan slur," was on a story that called on White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan to apologize for a statement he made to Newsweek magazine while he was treasury secretary: "My heart cannot bleed for many hospitals hurt by limits on Medicare payments, even those run by Roman Catholic nuns. Their hearts are big, but their heads aren't screwed on tight. Most of them need new management."

Regan offered a "guarded apology" and an explanation in the March issue, which also included several angry letters to the editor.

That year, the World, as Curley called it, explored topics of interest that continue to warrant coverage: programs for the unhoused, concerns over a proposed Medicare freeze, the culture of Catholic health care facilities, and poor pregnancy outcomes among Black mothers.

It addressed issues more illustrative of the time: the famine in Africa, Ethiopia in particular, and the AIDS crisis.

Some pop culture references might be lost on today's younger readers. One photo showing a car stuck on a parking deck after an accident at a North Carolina hospital noted that it looked like the set of "Dukes of Hazzard." A story about a hospital program in Pennsylvania to help quell the fears of child patients was illustrated by photos of children looking on as adults pretend to examine Cabbage Patch Kid dolls. One editorial from a hospital executive asked readers to think of people in other countries, not just Ethiopia, when they hear the song "We Are the World."

Catholic Health World's coverage of the 70th annual Catholic Health Assembly in 1985, which was held in Orlando, Florida, noted that more than 1,100 people attended. Recordings of presentations were later available on audio cassettes for $8 each, according to an advertisement. Topics included "Too Many Beds: is Merger the Answer?", "Inter-species biomedicine: technology or tinkering?" and "Is Being Catholic Worth Saving?"

Over its four decades, the newspaper has covered a plethora of topics, including the rise of lay sponsorship of Catholic health care, the consolidation of health systems, and the ever-increasing use of robotics, artificial intelligence and other technology to advance medical care. Pope John Paul II made the newspaper's pages, notably during his address to the CHA assembly in Phoenix in 1987 and his visit to St. Louis in 1999. In 1996, the paper touted the association's new home on the world wide web, and in 1997, it greeted the first cloned sheep with the headline "Hello, Dolly!"

Take a closer look at some pages from Catholic Health World over the years.

 

Catholic Health World covered the 1997 passage of the Children's Health Insurance Program, which CHA strongly supported, and the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010. That year, CHA's then-president and CEO Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, made TIME magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2015, the newspaper covered President Barack Obama's speech at CHA's assembly in which he thanked the organization for supporting his health insurance program and said of Sr. Carol: "We would not have gotten the Affordable Care Act done had it not been for her."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Catholic Health World halted its print production in May and June of 2020 but continued to provide news of hospital and health care response online. Throughout the public health crisis, the newspaper covered the challenges providers grappled with as the virus infected millions and to date has killed more than a 1.2 million in the United States, workers were overwhelmed, and public health directives came under fire. The newspaper also has documented the strong push for health equity within the ministry that was spurred in part by the inequities seen during the pandemic.

Catholic Health World, which started as a twice-monthly print publication, is now printed monthly. It has a print circulation of about 12,600, with issues sent to readers in all 50 United States and Washington, Puerto Rico, Italy, Canada and Germany. Last year, Catholic Health World adopted a digital-first strategy, posting new content to its website several times a week. Its online content, which is free and open to the public, draws thousands of readers.

"Since its founding, CHA has worked to lift up the collective voice of Catholic health care in the United States," said Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, CHA president and CEO. "During the past four decades, Catholic Health World has played a critical role in telling the story of our healing ministry and has been consistently recognized for excellence in journalism. Through the work of Catholic Health World reporters and editors, our members and the larger public have gained new knowledge and insight on a wide variety of topics such as health care reform, community benefit, spiritual care, disaster response, and the vital role our members play in relation to the global church."

» Slideshow — Take a closer look at some pages from Catholic Health World over the years.

 

 

Copyright © 2025 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States

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