CHA's board has adopted a strategic plan for 2025 to 2027 that advances the association's vision to "empower bold change to elevate human flourishing."
The newly released plan focuses on three pillars of activity: care for all, health reimagined and united for change. The plan challenges the association to unite Catholic health care providers and their partners to prioritize the dignity of all people
and promote the common good.
CHA Chief of Staff Amy Ballance says the association will work with member groups and committees as well as with new advisory groups to get input on how best to implement the plan. Ballance calls member engagement "a critical component to the success
of this plan as members will help us prioritize where to start, consider who else we should bring into the conversation and amplify our message."
CHA President and CEO Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, says the new plan does not seek to prop up the current ineffective health system but to work toward creating a new system. "Our health care system is broken and unsustainable, and incremental changes to failed
health policies will no longer suffice," she says. "If we truly believe that health care is a basic human right, then we must strive to create a health ecosystem that supports this commitment."
Long-term view
The development of the plan follows CHA's yearlong effort to define its vision. Sr. Mary says, "Last year, the CHA board made the decision to articulate a new vision for the organization and the ministry. We recognized
that bold change was needed if we are to ensure that all people have access to affordable quality health care, and we believe that Catholic health must assume a leadership role in transforming health care in this country."
The vision that CHA articulated late last year was, "We will empower bold change to elevate human flourishing."
Sr. Mary says the new strategic plan "creates the foundation for this work and establishes a direction for achieving our vision."
Ballance explains that to develop the plan from the vision statement, the CHA executives who led the strategic plan's creation engaged the association's leadership team, board members and staff. The CHA leadership team met several times over the course
of the past year to create a plan that would "challenge the status quo in order to … push for change," she says. CHA also sought input from CHA staff members "as they are close to the issues our members face and have awareness of what needs
to be done to impact change," Ballance says.
CHA Chief Operations and Finance Officer Loren Chandler says the team that developed the plan recognized that accomplishing bold change "is an iterative process that builds upon success." Given this fact, he says, "we kept a longer-term view in setting
our goals, knowing that each successful strategic cycle will elevate human flourishing."
Unification
Ballance says the plan seeks to address the problem that the "U.S. health care system no longer keeps the patient at the center of the care model due to administrative burdens created by our reimbursement system. So many
factors have contributed to this over the years, but the current environment makes it challenging for patients to get access to the care they need while stretching the financial sustainability of our members."
The "care for all" section of the plan focuses on ensuring patients have access to the care and insurance coverage they need within the current system. The "health reimagined" section has a goal of convening CHA members to collectively agree on the need
for change and then begin dialogue both within and outside the membership on what that change may look like. And, Ballance says, the "united for change" section organizes CHA's work as a membership association, unifying members, church leaders and
other partners to speak in the same voice and work collaboratively for change.
Chandler notes that "a key word in the vision statement is 'We,' and as a ministry of the Catholic Church, 'we' continue Jesus' mission of love and healing. This is foundational to Catholic health and in order to elevate human flourishing, 'we' must come
together and be unified in our actions."
Sr. Mary agrees, "We must come together as the Catholic health ministry and collaborate with others who are committed to working towards the creation of a just system of care. As a membership organization, CHA is in a pivotal position to help bring members
together and facilitate our collective efforts toward achieving our vision."
Access a summary of the strategic plan