In forming Catholic Health East, both sponsors and participating organizations looked to three primary areas: sponsorship, stewardship, strategic positioning. The formulation of the first strategic plan led to the naming of another area: innovation. Each area contains significant implications for the life of the system.

Religious sponsors are tangible signs of the Catholic identity of the health system.

Sponsorship
THE SPONSORS BELIEVE that the founding of CHE will create a stable vehicle for religious sponsors to maintain sponsorship and Catholic identity of their health ministry into the future. The relationships between sponsorship and Catholic identity are especially important in three areas.

The first of these is the role of sponsorship itself. In many ways, sponsorship is an exercise of stewardship. We have seen that the ministry of healing is larger, older, more extensive than any one expression of it. No one, no group, "owns" this ministry. It is of God. It is for the people. At the same time, sponsors have been given to hold vital and beautiful expressions of the ministry, to care for these expressions, to nurture them, to be faithful to the work implicit within the gift.

Wise stewards are conscious that they do not own what they care for. They know they are accountable to others and must be attentive to the plans of the true owner. They recognize that there is a difference between holding and holding on, and make room for transformation when that is called for. Sponsors in Catholic health care today are called to both honor and preserve what has been given them and allow for the transformation that is inevitable in the joining of charisms and the greater expression of the gifts of the laity who participate in the mission. As stewards who encourage the growth of the gift, sponsors are called to actively encourage new understandings and expressions of their own particular ministry.

Secondly, as both a holding and a letting go, sponsors recognize that their presence is not that of an immediate and direct involvement in the daily operations of the system. In order to ensure that memory and the Catholic identity of the system, structures that establish and facilitate the mission and values of CHE must be set in place. These structures include accountability measures for governance and management, positions within the organization that focus on the nurturance of values and identity and spiritual care, ongoing processes that provide for value-based selection and development of leaders within the organization, processes that ensure ethical decision-making, and ongoing development of the soul and spirit of Catholic Health East. Sponsors need to make sure these are all in place, functioning well, and that accountability measures are established.

Thirdly, religious sponsors are tangible signs of the Catholic identity of the health system. In a system grounded in faith and attentive to relationships, religious leadership's relationships with Church administrators places them in a significant role. They can well serve as bridge between the institutional Church and the people who serve in the ministry. This implies ongoing conversation with both representatives of the institutional Church and those who serve the Church. It demands knowledge of the issues that arise in health care today as well as clear sense of purpose and mission. Wise stewards remember what they care for and why.

• How is your relationship with your organization's sponsors?
• What have been their greatest gifts to you?

We are a nation characterized by excessive individualism. Hence, true collaboration is difficult for us. Yet, CHE is founded upon principles of collaborative relationships.

Stewardship
CHE'S IDENTIFY AS A CATHOLIC HEALTH SYSTEM has implications in how it understands and lives out the value of stewardship. The founding sponsors believed that formation of CHE would enable more effective stewardship of collective resources to achieve maximum benefit for the communities served and the common good of the Catholic health ministry. The CHE core value of stewardship says that "we care for and strengthen the ministry and all resources entrusted to us." Catholic identity and commitment to ministry demand that our stewardship is grounded in a conviction of the sacredness of both the work we do and all persons involved in that work. Stewardship demands that we work together to enhance the potential of employees. Those who serve in CHE must be invited to grow in skills, in commitment, in confidence and competence.

Furthermore, CHE represents vast resources dedicated to the service of others and the ministry of the Church. These resources must be used wisely. The gift is precious and cannot be squandered, nor can it be held so tightly that it suffocates. The material resources of the health system are not for the sake of any one's personal enrichment, any profit for stockholders. They are for the health of the community, the sake of the people and - ultimately - the glory of God. Good stewards need to be financially wise, very astute. CHE must maintain its fiscal integrity so that it can continue to serve others. At the same time, risks must be taken. The gospels tell of a steward who thought it wise to bury the master's money rather than risk it. He was sorely mistaken. The gifts of God and of those who have gone before us are meant to be given away in turn - wisely, generously, with care.

Just as CHE's resources are not meant for the personal enrichment of any one person, they are meant for the good of all. The founding documents speak often of the common good. The understanding that the goods of a society are meant for all the members of a society is not a natural one in the United States at the end of the millennium. We are a nation characterized by excessive individualism. Hence, true collaboration is difficult for us. Yet, CHE is founded upon principles of collaborative relationships. This implies outreach to others. It also implies a sharing of the resources of the system throughout the system. Activities such as investment management, capital allocation and debt refinancing are not merely good business practices. They are also practical exercises in the common good. All resources serve the whole ministry. We belong to each other, we are called to oneness. One of the most graphic (and difficult) ways we demonstrate this is in the allocation and use of our combined resources.

Finally, CHE recognizes that many of the resources entrusted to us are of and from the earth. Reverence demands that we treat these gifts with care and preserve natural resources as best and as creatively as we can. We do not own the earth. It is our home and the home of those we serve. Environmental resources will be treated with great respect by those who recognize that they are not disposable.

• What tensions have I experienced in the use of resources?
• What goods do we hold in common as an organization, a system?

Because CHE is... committed to a healing ministry, both motivation for growth and the fruits of growth have distinctive significance.

Strategic Positioning
CATHOLIC HEALTH EAST HOPES to "use enhanced size and critical mass to strengthen the positioning of individual local health ministries and the system as a whole." This statement is a good example of the application of both the principle of common good and the importance of relationships that are fundamental to the health system. Each organization benefits and all benefit... for the sake of the ministry. In biblical terms, when the eye is strong, the whole body is healthier. (1Cor 12:14-26). A system means that parts, members belong to each other and are affected by the actions and attitudes of each other. In this case, the system's position in its markets can be strengthened by its coming together and its growth. The Catholic identity of CHE will have certain implications as it seeks to improve its strategic position.

Because CHE is a Catholic health system committed to a healing ministry, both motivation for growth and the fruits of growth have distinctive significance. One can seek to grow in order to corner the market, become more profitable, raise stock prices. One can also seek growth in order to strengthen already existing organizations, establish a more comprehensive network, gain greater recognition for the system. One can also pursue growth in order to serve more people, provide access where there is none, provide support for struggling health care facilities, facilitate the continuing of the ministry for religious congregations, better serve those who are poor. Choices concerning where to grow and how to grow indicate a consciousness of identity. Catholic, ministerial identity will always act for the sake of the people, for the sake of growing a greater scope of service and broader base of witness and presence. Greater system recognition, a more comprehensive network, strengthening existing organizations, profitability may result from enhanced strategic positioning. They are not, however, the primary goal. Being a transforming, healing presence is.

Because CHE is a system that declares itself to stand within a tradition grounded in biblical calls to justice and response to those who are in need, strategic positioning will remember the social and prophetic witness of Catholic health ministry. Jesus healed as a sign of God's power and salvation. His presence witnessed to a God who calls for a transformed, caring, compassionate community among all. Organizations that claim to stand within this tradition must witness to the same thing.

They do so in each and every community in which they are found. They do so with conviction and with collaboration. Oftentimes, the health network may be one of the most stable and significant social institutions in a community. Catholic health facilities and services must be conscious of this as they strive not only to care for individual persons but to improve the health and well-being of the entire community. Jesus demonstrated for us what holy use of power looks like. We need to remember this.

• What is the relationship between your organization and the community?
• If you are looking to grow, in what ways will the transforming, healing presence of CHE be extended?

Catholic Health East will use its collective strength and resources to pioneer new ways of responding to community health needs...

Innovation
IN FORMULATING THE FIRST STRATEGIC PLAN for Catholic Health East, leaders within the system recognized the importance of innovation for the future of the system. What are the implications of Catholic identity for innovative strategies and activities?

One implication resides among the purposes for founding the system: "Catholic Health East will use its collective strength and resources to pioneer new ways of responding to community health needs. Together, the founding sponsors and health systems will be positioned to take risks and explore innovative approaches to health care which none could have done independently." No one in this country will deny that the delivery of health care has radically changed, that the entire system of health, wellness, provision, access, delivery, insurance… everything is different. Everything is different, except the needs of people, except the demands of memory and of ministry.

In order to be faithful to the memory that is precious to identity, Catholic Health East must pioneer new ways of responding to needs. Sponsors will find new ways in which to sponsor, alternatives that will respond to needs of both religious congregations and the communities we serve.

Further, the entire system will be innovative in its approaches to collaboration and provision of services… so that more are served with more compassion. There is a story in the gospels where the disciples of the imprisoned John the Baptist seek out Jesus to find out if he is really the Messiah. Jesus does not answer by giving his pedigree or his degrees.

He simply points out the results: See, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the blind see, the poor have the good news preached to them (Mt 11:4). Every organization and facility within Catholic Health East is challenged to be able to say the same thing. In order to say this, to have others say it of our presence, we must be creative, take risks, dare new ways of doing things.

...Together, the founding sponsors and health systems will be positioned to take risks and explore innovative approaches to health care which none could have done independently.

Finally, Catholic Health East will need to be innovative and creative and even risky about memory. How can we keep the memory alive? How can we continue to tell the story in ways that catch fire, instill passion and hope? Each day requires remembering, retelling. Each day provides its own commentary on the holy memory. How will we learn to see it better, tell it better, recognize it in the work we do, recognize ourselves in the telling?

• How is your collective memory kept alive?
• Name a creative, daring way to tell your story.

Catholic Health East, 3805 West Chester Pike, Suite 100
Newtown Square, PA 19073 | 610.355.2000
Copyright © 2007, Catholic Health East. Contact us at info@che.org.