Catholic Health System Drops Saint Names from Hospitals
Franciscan Alliance has announced it will be dropping the saint names from its hospitals to create a more unified brand across the entire system. The network will now be called Franciscan Health and will rename 12 of its 14 individual hospitals, removing the names of individual saints and giving them more geographically specific names. For example, Franciscan St. Francis Health in Indianapolis will now become Franciscan Health Indianapolis, the Chicago Tribute reports.
Ascension Health CEO on the Faith-Based Competitive Advantage’ in Healthcare
Robert Henkel, president and CEO of Ascension Health, explains in an interview with strategy+business why he believes faith-based healthcare organizations are uniquely positioned to thrive in the evolving healthcare environment, Becker’s Hospital Review writes. Henkel says faith-based systems already focus on inclusion and partnering with community organizations, which help with population health management efforts. He adds that they are also seasoned collaborators and that employees of faith-based organizations may be more resilient to burn out.
Adventist Health System CEO Donald Jernigan to Retire
Donald Jernigan, Adventist Health System CEO, has announced his retirement and will transition to a new role as founding faculty member of the Adventist Health System Leadership Institute beginning December 2016. He has held his current position as CEO for 10 years and previously served in many other leadership roles at Adventist, including executive vice president and senior vice president of the organization and CEO of the Multi-State Hospital Division. Adventist is slated to elect a new president and CEO Dec. 8, 2016, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.
Houston Methodist Hospital Completes 6-way Kidney Swap
Houston Methodist Hospital has successfully coordinated the second-largest kidney swap to ever happen at one institution. A kidney swap means a loved one of a transplant patient who is not a match to be a donor exchanges organs with another incompatible pair, creating a much faster route to a life-saving procedure than waiting on a transplant list. The hospital planned and arranged for the swap for more than two months and scheduled surgeries across two days, according to click2houston.
Catholic Health Care Challenged—Again
President and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the U.S. (CHA) Sister Carol Keehan, D.C. says a recent Reuters story reporting that Catholic hospitals often provide substandard women’s reproductive care is misguided. The article, which suggests Catholic institutions are unable to make referrals for abortions or sterilization procedures, even in emergency situations. It was based on a study of interviews with 27 doctors, which Keehan says makes it difficult to draw any legitimate conclusions. She adds that Catholic hospitals terminate pregnancies that endanger the lives of women “all the time” when absolutely necessary and that nothing in the U.S. bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDs) prohibits it.
Catholic hospitals are required to pass the same standards for maternal and neonatal care as all other hospitals, are accredited by the Joint Commission and must be licensed by their respective states according to the same care standards as all other facilities, America Magazine reports.
New President Named for Med Center Hospital
Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) St. Luke’s Health-Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center has selected a new president, Gay Nord. She has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare, most recently serving as president and CEO of Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. There Nord created an adult congenital heart program, a cardio-oncology program and a structural heart program as well as saw earnings increase more than 8 percent. She takes over for interim president William Brien and will assume the role Oct. 3, 2016, according to the Houston Business Journal.
