 |
 |
NEWSLETTER: NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2007
|
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
|
 Click here for printer-friendly version! |
- Vision & Leadership in Catholic Health Care: Answering the Call
- MEMBER UPDATE
- NEWS TO USE
- November/December Newsletter Sponsor - FaithSearch Partners, Inc.
Vision & Leadership in Catholic Health Care: Answering the Call
‘Frustrating Times’
President George W. Bush vetoed the first version of the expanded federal SCHIP renewal legislation the same week delegates gathered in Austin for the Catholic Health Association of Texas Vision & Leadership in Catholic Health Care conference -- Answering the Call.
“If you’re concerned about the uninsured and under insured, these are frustrating times,” Brenda Trolin, the association’s executive director, said as she opened the event. Still, she said, “I believe we can achieve our goals.”
The Association will be working with others to develop educational materials to help “mobilize and engage the average person in health care” as a way to get them involved in grass roots efforts to expand insurance coverage in Texas, which now leads the nation with over 25 percent of its residents having no health care insurance. A grass roots campaign will be necessary because “legislative battles are won in communities across the state,” she said.
Trolin said the Association’s goal is to join other states, such as Massachusetts and California, in exploring new ways to make health care accessible and affordable to all people. One problem, she said, is that “even though we have the highest rate of uninsured in the nation, our Congressional delegates tell us they don’t hear from people about it, so it’s not an issue!”
Answering the Call, she said, is the start of an overall effort at grass roots education and advocacy, along with coalition building with other organizations, to let state and federal legislators know that it’s time for change in Texas.
Effective Advocacy
Influencing legislation and working with legislators is a three-dimensional process, according to speaker Frank Santos, founder and CEO of Santos Alliances, in Austin. It involves advance planning, timelines, focus and a clear message about what you want your legislative representatives to do.
Santos outlined three key mistakes organizations make in working with legislators:
They believe members vote “because it’s the right thing to do.” He said they vote in ways that will get them re-elected.
They believe that the best argument wins. Actually, he said, it’s the side that’s best organized that wins.
They believe that more information is better. Legislative staff members may study thick documents, but legislators need a quick summary. “Less is more,” Santos said.
Santos also urged conference participants to pay attention to the rules of the legislative process. “It’s all about the rules,” he admonished. “If your opponent knows them better, they’ll win.”
Santos discussed three basic approaches to legislative advocacy, the first being direct approaches to legislators. Advocates will be more likely to succeed if they keep in mind that “Legislators think about getting re-elected,” Santos said. “Their motivation will be based on that.”
Organizations can have impact by:
- Developing personal relationships with their legislators
- Discerning individual interest by legislators in particular subjects
- Obtaining local voter support for the legislator
- Making financial contributions
“These are the things that drive legislators to take a position on every issue,” Santos said.
Or, there is the grass roots approach. “This is a difficult but important process,” he explained. In helping organizations with such efforts, Santos said, “We find your allies, recruit them and educate them,” using outreach, dialogue and follow up to do so.
“Remember the three C’s – commitment, continuity and connection,” he said. “All this is needed for long-term support. It’s not a one-shot deal.”
Santos also described the “grass tops” approach, which involves people at the leadership level of organizations or communities.
Keys to effective grass tops efforts are:
Legislative match -- Leaders typically have wider circles and more influence than average citizens.
Intercept – Leaders can impact legislators by bringing them to local events, visiting them at the capitol, and through phone calls and letters.
Media – Leaders can employ letters to the editors or opinion pieces in local publications, and can organize press events.
No matter what method you choose, he told participants, when working to influence legislators, “Keep the message simple, and make the ask – tell them what you want them to do.”
The Challenge of Health Care Change
“The uninsured are our number one issue, because that’s at the root of a lot of other health related problems that come up,” declared Gentry Woodard, director of legislative affairs at St. Joseph Health System, and chair of the Association’s Advocacy Committee. But it is difficult to get meaningful change from legislators who are wary of spending any more money on health.
The Catholic Health Association of Texas had identified the uninsured issue, along with advance directives and Medicaid/CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) as the top three priorities during the last Texas legislative session. Although some gains were made, “I was pretty disappointed in the session,” Woodard confessed. He noted that the Texas Youth Commission scandal, the governor’s failed effort on behalf of HPV vaccination, and legislative squabbles over the House Speaker seat took energy away from other key issues and “set things back and created a negative tone for the rest of the session.”
His disappointment was made more keen because the state started the session with a budget surplus, the governor had expressed an interest in expanding health care access in his proposal to sell the state lottery, and much attention had been generated about health care issues through the Code Red and Texas Health Institute reports that urged major change.
“It all looked positive and the momentum was there,” Woodard said. “But in the end we got no substantial legislation to address the uninsured in any way.”
In his overview of the legislative year, Woodard observed that Catholic health care providers did benefit from SB 10, and HB 109 did make some positive changes in the CHIP program. But he said that because Medicaid is already 26 percent of the state’s total budget, legislators are refusing to do anything that would make costs go even higher. Medicaid waivers will be a key issue to watch in the future, he warned. “That will be the biggest issue for hospitals.”
Woodard acknowledged “health care is not something anyone wants to tackle.” Unfortunately, he said, major change in health care is associated with “socializing medicine” and that term is a hot button for controversy, even though many other societal services are “socialized.” He also noted that health care leaders in Texas are facing the challenge of finding a new champion in the Legislature because House Member Dianne White Delisi (R-Temple) has announced she will not be seeking re-election when her term ends, and she has been a strong advocate on behalf of health care in Texas.
Power in a United Voice
Catholics have a unique voice in American society and should use it to advocate for the changes that will meet the health care needs of the nation’s citizens, said Clay O’Dell, director of member advocacy for the Catholic Health Association of America.
“A united Catholic voice is a powerful voice,” he declared, pointing out that 26 percent of the nation’s population is Catholic and that dedication to education, social services and health care are all vital components of the church’s historic and moral presence.
O’Dell said he believes public awareness and support is growing for health care change. More people are realizing that, like nearly 50 million others who have no health insurance coverage, their own insurance plans can be lost in the significant downsizing being done by American corporations and businesses. The issue is also being introduced into the 2008 presidential debate by at least one candidate.
Catholics see health care as a basic right, O’Dell said. In fact, the CHA-USA board has just approved a vision statement making that declaration, which will soon be reflected on its web site and in its publications.
“We see it as vital to allow full participation in society,” he said. “You need basic health care like you need education, food, water and shelter.”
O’Dell said efforts to build grass roots coalitions for advocacy are never wasted, even if a given campaign fails to achieve its goals. “First, no message heard is ever wasted,” he counseled. “And, legislative failures can still be grass roots successes, because although you may not have won, you now have a huge Catholic coalition for future use in other advocacy efforts.”
He said it is extremely important for Catholic organizations to work together at all levels – local, state and national, and said the national association has many resources that can be made available to help.
An Effective Tool
A simple prayer tent designed to educate children about Lent has the potential to become an effective teaching tool for repairing the Texas health care system.
Michael Culliton, director of the Center for Healthcare Reform at St. Joseph Health System, said the tent, designed by the Center, may be adapted for many uses. He demonstrated how the six-panel table tent may be folded to incorporate six messages that can support any number of church, community or even personal goals.
He pointed out that expanded health insurance is especially important for the children of Texas. Over 1.3 million children in this state have no health coverage, he said, and most of these are from working families. If these children held hands side by side they would stretch 1,036 miles; or they could fill 24,855 school buses, or form 151,889 Little League baseball teams.
Culliton said the prayer tent may be employed to support long-term vision as well as short-term goals, and both are needed to make change happen in health care. The paper tent, with its changeable messages, may be used “as a tool for helping the general public to develop a vision,” he noted. Catholics need to develop a long-term vision for health care, and then “raise our voices based on that vision.”
The Center suggests that the tents may be used to:
- Enroll partners
- Create a team
- Leverage your creativity and the tent’s flexibility
- Develop a plan
- Implement the plan
- Track and report activity to participants
- Communicate and celebrate outcomes
Prayer tents and inserts are available through Candise Spikes at the Catholic Healthcare Association of Texas office (hard copies at cspikes@tha.org or PDF copies at http://www.stjhs.org/CFHR/).
MEMBER UPDATE
CHRISTUS Health President and CEO Starts a Blog
Dr. Thomas C. Royer, president and CEO of CHRISTUS Health, has started his
own weblog (blog), Wireside Chat with Dr. Tom, which can be found at http://wiresidechatwithdrtom.blogspot.com/.
Dr. Royer uses his blog to share his thoughts about health care issues of note
and his experiences in health care leadership, and it provides him with the
opportunity to interact with Web users in meaningful ways.
“While we know of other health care CEO bloggers (like Paul Levy and Nicholas Jacobs), we believe that Dr. Royer’s blog is unique in that he is a physician as well as the president and CEO of a health care system,” said Linda McClung, senior vice president, Communications, Public Affairs, Philanthropy and System Services. “In addition, Dr. Royer is a visionary who has around 35 years of experience in health care. His ideas and perspective will be informative to many different Web users who are interested in the field of health care.”
Dr. Royer’s blog is updated every Wednesday.
Source: CHRISTUS Health Press Release, August 15, 2007
Covenant Welcomes New COO
Covenant Health System and Melinda Clark, President and CEO, announced Brett Esrock as the new president of Lubbock hospitals and chief operating officer of CHS. Esrock began at Covenant on September 5.
“Brett is a talented young man with extensive experience in leading hospital operations. In addition to his COO role, Brett is currently the project coordinator for a new hospital which allows him to give us that additional perspective,” stated Melinda Clark.
In the role of President and COO, Esrock will assume responsibilities for all Covenant Lubbock hospitals, including Covenant Medical Center and Lakeside campuses, Covenant Children’s Hospital, and Covenant Specialty Hospital, and will oversee daily hospital operations and will focus heavily on patient, employee and physician satisfaction. Current President and CEO Melinda Clark will oversee her responsibilities for the System, which includes Covenant Medical Group, Covenant SurgiCenter, all Covenant Lubbock Hospitals and Covenant affiliated health care providers in West Texas and New Mexico.
Source: Covenant Connection, Volume Two Issue 16 – August 10, 2007
Mother Frances Named 100 Top Hospitals Performance Improvement Leader
Mother Frances Hospital was named one of the U.S.’s 100 Top Hospitals as a performance improvement leader in the large community hospitals category by Thomson Healthcare, a leading provider of strategic business and clinical information for the health care industry. The Hospital, which previously received the recognition in 2005, is one of only 20 large community hospitals in the nation to earn the award.
Mother Frances Hospital and its management team were recognized for demonstrating the greatest progress in improving hospital-wide performance over five consecutive years (2001-2005). The award is given to hospitals that have proven sustained success in reducing complications, mortality rates, and improving patient safety.
Source: Trinity Mother Frances Health System Press Release, August 10, 2007
Seton’s Clinical Education Center at Brackenridge Now Open
The new Clinical Education Center (CEC) at Brackenridge opened its doors September 27 for a “sneak peek,” welcoming Brackenridge associates, area educators and the first 50 nursing students. The CEC is an innovative and unique facility that represents a collaboration of the Seton Family of Hospitals, the Austin Community College District, The University of Texas Medical Branch-Austin Programs, The University of Texas at Austin and Concordia University. It will house ACC classes for as many as 100 new nursing students in the next academic year. Additionally, the CEC will be accessible to students and graduate trainees in a number of different disciplines including medicine, nursing, public health, bioengineering, informatics, social work, pharmacy, law, psychology and public policy. It will be a great resource for current nurses and other clinical staff at Seton for professional development, skills training, specialty education and simulations designed to improve patient safety.
The Center features:
- Flexible instructional spaces equipped with multimedia technology;
- Simulation labs to support interdisciplinary team training;
- Medium-to high-fidelity interactive mannequins that provide learners with a safe, error-forgiving environment to practice interdisciplinary team approaches to patient care;
- Debriefing rooms to support the simulation labs;
- Skills Labs for learners to practice nursing and medical skills in a real-life hospital setting;
- A standardized patient program that helps students understand both the clinical and social causes of poor health; and
- Computer lab and learning resource area.
Additional features and programs will be phased in during the next year.
Source: Heartbeat, Volume 14 Issue 10 – October 2007
St. Joseph Receives the Texas Award for Performance Excellence
The Quality Texas Foundation, administrator of Texas’ premier annual performance excellence award, presented St. Joseph Health System with the 2007 Texas Award for Performance Excellence (TAPE) on June 25. SJHS was one of three state-wide award recipients for 2007 and is the first organization in the Brazos Valley to receive the Award since its inception in 1993.
Patterned after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria and process, the Texas Award for Performance Excellence is an annual recognition of Texas organizations that have achieved performance excellence and applied outstanding quality principles in their day-to-day operations. The award is presented to organizations that serve as role models for quality, customer satisfaction, and performance excellence in the state of Texas. St. Joseph is only the third health care organization to receive the Texas Award for Performance Excellence.
Source: St. Joseph Press Release, June 2007
NEWS TO USE
12 Weeks to a Better You
At Seton Medical Center Williamson, we believe lifelong fitness begins with a healthy passion that ignites your mind, challenges your body, and rejuvenates your spirit. We also realize that juggling the demands of work and family can sometimes push your fitness goals to the backburner. The new Ignite Women's Health program can help you take that first step.
Register and receive a coupon for a complimentary shoe-fitting at RunTex
to ensure you start your training on the right foot!
Ignite Program
Ignite is designed to help you -- regardless of your fitness level -- reach your goals in just 12 weeks and get you ready for the Ignite 5K to be held during the opening celebrations for Seton Medical Center Williamson in February 2008.
Professional Training: Through 12 weekly sessions with RunTex founder Paul Carrozza and dedicated RunTex coaches, you'll tailor a walking, jogging or running program that will help you build strength, confidence and endurance.
Training Session Dates:
November 3, 10, 17
December 1, 8, 15, 29
January 5, 12, 19, 26
Women's Health Seminars: Ignite also includes six healthy living seminars by Seton health professionals and H-E-B. Learn about everything from exercising with your kids to the psychology of eating, and much more.
Seminar Schedule:
Nov. 8, 6 p.m.
Ovulation: Prediction and Management – Teravista Residents’ Club,
Round Rock
Nov. 15, 6 p.m.
Healthy Cooking Demo – H-E-B Plus! 1700 E. Palm Valley, Round Rock
Dec. 6, 6 p.m.
Exercise and Incontinence - Fern Bluff Community Center (formerly Jean Cochran
Center), Round Rock
Dec. 13, 6 p.m.
Mind Your Meals: The Psychology of Eating - Fern Bluff Community Center (formerly
Jean Cochran Center), Round Rock
Jan. 5, 9 a.m.
How to Exercise with Your Kids - Williamson County Regional Park
Jan. 17, 6 p.m.
What Goes In Matters! Navigating Nutrition - H-E-B Plus! 1700 E. Palm Valley,
Round Rock
Jan. 31, 6 p.m.
Fighting Fatigue - Fern Bluff Community Center (formerly Jean Cochran Center),
Round Rock
Community: Become part of the Ignite community on goodhealth.com and gain online access to a wealth of training and wellness resources:
- Daily Ignite training schedule and essays
- Ignite forum
- Online access to RunTex coaches
- Healthy recipes and nutrition tips from H-E-B
- GoodHealth.com articles
In addition to all of this, you will receive a training journal, registration for the Ignite 5K and a race T-shirt. All for just $30.
Take the step toward lifelong fitness and register now at http://goodhealth.com/ignite.
November/December Newsletter Sponsor
Thanks to Our November/December Newsletter Sponsor – FaithSearch Partners, Inc.
HOUSTON, TEXAS – FaithSearch Partners, Inc., the only executive search firm in the U.S. focusing exclusively on faith-based hospitals and health systems, has named long-time healthcare search consultant Ed Fry as the firm’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
Fry comes to FaithSearch Partners from Russell Reynolds Associates, where he launched the international firm’s faith-based executive search initiative. Previously he was a partner/shareholder at Witt/Kieffer for 15 years.
“The mission and vision for FaithSearch Partners dovetails nicely with my passion and commitment to strengthen leadership at faith-based hospitals and systems,” said Fry. “So often, faith-based institutions assume that in order to secure leaders who can successfully manage the organization financially, they must sacrifice finding a match with its spiritual values and mission of ministry. The good news is that financial leadership strength and commitment to ministry are not mutually exclusive.”
“Another unique aspect about FaithSearch Partners is its commitment to the principle of ‘tithing,’” Fry continued. “The firm sets aside ten percent of its gross revenues and contributes it to ministries impacting hospitals and healthcare organizations. This is truly extraordinary and allows the company to impact patients and family members in a significant way.”
For more information about FaithSearch Partners, contact Fry at 713-304-6870 or visit its website at www.faithsearchpartners.com.