BY: DAVID WARREN, PhD
Dr. Warren is a communications specialist, Catholic Health Association,
St. Louis.
Responding to health care needs and strengthening
our ministry for the future
1968-1975: Identity Restored
By the time Fr. Thomas J. Casey, SJ, succeeded Fr. John J. Flanagan, SJ,—who
suffered a cerebral hemorrhage that forced him to resign in 1968—as CHA
executive director, some ministry leaders were already concerned about a disconnect
emerging between sponsors and hospitals. By the time Sr. Mary Maurita Sengelaub,
RSM—formerly general councilor and hospital coordinator, Sisters of Mercy
of the Union, Bethesda, MD, and assistant to the director of health affairs,
U.S. Catholic Conference, Washington, DC—was appointed the first woman
chief executive officer of CHA in June 1970, these concerns had the ministry
thinking about diagnosis and treatment of the identity crisis, as Sr. Maurita
described it.
In November 1970, CHA created the Catholic Health Services Program (CHSLP),
which conducted a needs assessment with leadership teams from Catholic health
facilities and their sponsors. The assessment showed dwindling numbers of women
religious, fewer congregational administrators in leadership roles, miscommunication
between sponsoring groups and facility leaders, some conflicts between congregational
leaders and individual sisters, misunderstandings between the ministry and the
U.S. bishops, and an industry-wide orientation toward illness rather than health.
Asked to identify the principles to address these challenges, ministry leaders
noted the primacy of community service; the unifying teaching of the Catholic
Church; and the importance of the principles of subsidiarity and collegiality,
to be reflected in corporate policy setting and decentralized decision making.
CHSLP helped congregations and facilities to implement participative decision
making; develop good management; create models of sponsorship with a sound theological
and ecclesial basis; and articulate a theology of the health ministry. CHA began
to focus more on congregations, now that their members held fewer executive
and staff positions in hospitals.
In 1971, CHA collaborated with the American Hospital Association, the American
Nursing Home Association, and the Health Industries Manufacturing Association
to create the American Health Congress, which featured educational sessions
and a significant exhibit hall, and enabled a variety of health care constituencies
to gather to discuss pressing issues. The first American Health Congress in
August 1972 included an address from Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D-NY) on "The
Search for a Quality Life."
With the American Health Congress filling the need for a convention-size meeting,
CHA began planning the first Catholic Health Assembly, to be held June 1972
in Boston. A new kind of Catholic health ministry meeting, the assembly limited
attendance in order to facilitate small discussion groups focused on CHSLP.
In 1975, CHA introduced the Achievement Citation award for recognition of original,
bold, values-based programs. The Achievement Citation honors innovation in meeting
community health needs. Achievement Citation winners also serve as models for
others who work to serve their communities and to further the mission of Catholic
health care.
1976-1987: An Apostolate Confirmed
In 1976, CHA opened an office in Washington, DC. In January 1977, Sr. Helen
Kelley, DC, administrator, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Binghamton, NY, succeeded
Sr. Maurita as CHA president.
In May 1979, John E. Curley, Jr., became the first lay president of CHA. The
next month at the assembly, CHA changed its name to the Catholic Health Association
of the United States.
On September 14, 1987, during his nine-city pastoral visit to the United States,
Pope John Paul II addressed Catholic health care leaders in Phoenix at a special
CHA membership assembly. The message of the pontiff was a resounding affirmation
of the health ministry: "I have come here today to encourage you in your
splendid work and to confirm you in your vital apostolate."
Copyright © 2005 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.