Catholic Health Care, Catholic Charities Teaming Up To Deliver Innovative Services, Study Finds

Catholic Charities USA
Thursday, 19 June 2003

Combining the strengths of their ministries, Catholic Charities and Catholic health care are teaming up to deliver innovative services that improve the lives of individuals, families, and communities, according to a study released today by the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) and Catholic Charities USA.

Greater Than the Parts, A Study of Collaboration Between Catholic Charities and Catholic Health Care is just one of a series of new tools released today by the two national organizations to help foster greater collaboration among Catholic health care and social service providers.

"The Catholic vision of caring for our neighbors call for us to treat illness with more than medicine, homelessness with more than shelter, poverty with more that just a handout. Our vision calls us to bring about healing—to seek health and wholeness of body, mind, and spirit for individuals, families, and communities—to carry out Jesus' mission of love. The combined capacity of Catholic Charities and Catholic health care offers tremendous hope for this vision," said Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, president of Catholic Charities USA, and Rev. Michael D. Place, STD, CHA president and chief executive officer.

Greater Than the Parts, A Study of Collaboration Between Catholic Charities and Catholic Health Care, which is on compact disk, documents the current breadth of ministerial collaboration, identifies factors that facilitate or impede effective partnerships, and offers lessons for local leaders.

Four key findings emerged from the national study.

• Collaboration is occurring across the country. More than 100 collaborative efforts between ministries, ranging from referral programs to extensive joint service initiatives have been identified.
• Collaboration produces results. Although relationship-building is often hard work, leaders from both Catholic Charities and health care organizations pointed repeatedly to enhanced services, strengthened relationships within communities, and improved outcomes for the persons and families they serve.
• The joint efforts are responding to individual and community needs. In the stories told by local leaders, it is clear that the partnerships entail far more than simply combining organizational capabilities. The efforts respond to human need, often in a way that amplifies the effectiveness of the individual organizations.
• Lessons for success are available for ministry leaders. The study showcases this innovative collaboration in St. Petersburg/Tampa, FL; Wichita, KS; Albany, NY; Cleveland, OH; and Orange County, CA.

New Covenant, an initiative committed to strengthening and promoting the organized expression of the Catholic caring and healing ministries, inspired the development of these tools. New Covenant has evolved since its inception in 1995. New Covenant emphasizes collaboration with a focus on collaborative relationships—particularly within the church—that create synergy to enhance health and well-being, especially of persons who are poor and vulnerable.

In addition to the Greater Than the Parts, A Study of Collaboration Between Catholic Charities and Catholic Health Care CD-ROM, other tools in the series include:

• Ministering Together compact disk. This resource captures the mission and philosophy behind the New Covenant.
• Greater than the Parts: Collaboration Lessons for Catholic Charities and Catholic Health Care. This handbook distills many of the lessons learned through the joint study on collaboration between the Catholic Charities and Catholic health network. It is intended to support local efforts to come together and focus on community problem solving.

A copy of the joint study and additional background material can be accessed at www.chausa.org/jointstudy.

Successful Local Collaboration Efforts Highlighted

Greater Than the Parts, A Study of Collaboration Between Catholic Charities and Catholic Health Care compact disk, includes five case studies that capture how collaborations came to be, their structure, focus, and future plans. Here is a look.

St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay, FL

In the St. Petersburg-Tampa Bay, FL, region, Catholic Charities, BayCare Health System, and other partners are working together to meet needs throughout diocese. To help migrant farm workers, a community center is offering Head Start and adult education, medical care, a food pantry and clothing closet, financial and family counseling, and soon, housing. The partnership is providing refugees with emergency and specialty care and training for health care jobs. The Christopher Center combines housing and medical care for AIDS patients in one facility. Housing is available in two stories of efficiency apartments, with and medical care and observation available in the ground floor clinic.

The partners also have come up with creative solutions that address each other's needs. For instance, BayCare rents the space for its AIDS clinic in a Catholic Charities property, so federal money for AIDS treatment and funds from pharmaceutical company drug trials help support AIDS services and programs of Catholic Charities. In addition, Catholic Charities housing experts help BayCare attract and retain professional staff through a program that provides assistance with down payments and low-interest mortgages.

Orange County, CA

In Orange County, CA, Mission Hospital, Catholic Charities, and 12 other agencies formed Community Health Enrichment Collaborative (CHEC) to build a healthier community among Mexican immigrants. Challenged to earn the trust of an immigrant community that has been alienated by language, culture, and economic status, Mission Hospital and Catholic Charities turned to the community's focal institution—the Parish of Mission Basilica—to be the third principle partner.

The first project, done at the request of the community, restored an abandoned sports field where children and teenagers could play. Other CHEC efforts started small, with health fairs and immunization drives, and the group then moved on to provide an adult literacy program, called "Leer es Poder/Reading is Power." The program has developed Diabetes Collaborative, a program of screenings, education and treatment referrals and established a Family Resource Center with parenting classes, family counseling, health and safety education, and many other programs promoting healthy families.

Cleveland, OH

Over the past six years Catholic Charities of Cleveland and the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine Health System (CSA) have launched several far-reaching initiatives in Cleveland. Refugees and immigrants, long served by Catholic Charities, are now receiving medical care from CSA hospitals. Their children also are enrolled in Catholic Charities daycare programs. The joint program also enables CSA's partner physicians to build valuable relationships with immigrant patients. The elderly have ready access to an entire continuum of health and social services through Catholic Community Care, a consortium of 17 different Catholic providers. As a result of the partnership, groups who once had difficulty access health care, now find health providers coming to them at the Hispanic Senior Center, at long-term care facilities, and in parishes where the partners are providing services for the disabled. The uninsured, the excluded, and the marginalized are getting the help they need, and health officials are seeing a decline in visits to the emergency room.

Wichita, KS

The Bishop's Community Tasks Force was established and made up of seven partners, including Via Christi Health System, Catholic Charities, and the diocese and its Catholic schools. Under leadership task force's leadership the Office of Hispanic Ministry and the development of the Hispanic Pastoral Center were established. Money was raised to fund a Hispanic social worker position within Catholic Charities. The social worker has become a major resource for the Hispanic community, helping residents obtain emergency financial and food assistance and medical services. The inclusion of concrete assistance into the provision of spiritual services is seen as important to the Catholic ministry. Via Christi supported the effort through the donation of office equipment and furnishings for the Hispanic Center.

Other projects of the Task Force include the Lord's Diner, which provides more than 350 people in need evening meals seven days a week; the School Nurse Project, which addresses the health needs of children in parochial schools that did not have a school nurse on-site; and the Catholic Care Center, which consists of a skilled nursing center and a center for retired priests. Currently, additional units for residents in need of assisted living and a memory care center for people with Alzheimer's disease are under construction.

Albany, NY

The Albany Diocesan Community Health Alliance (DCHA) was established in 1994 to explore ways Catholic Charities agencies, Catholic health care providers, Catholic parishes, and Catholic schools in the diocese could provide more holistic, less fragmented, services. Examples of successful collaboration efforts can be found in employment services and school health and day care.

DCHA participants have been awarded several state grants to fund employment services through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program. St. Peter's Hospital developed a successful grant application in partnership with Catholic Charities of Albany and Rensselaer County, and with this support, Catholic Charities recruited TANF participants and provided them with job readiness training. The hospital then hired the TANF participants for entry-level positions, which were subsidized by grant funds. Catholic Charities staff provided on-site case management to the participants for at least four months.

Catholic Charities agencies, Seton Health, and St. Peter's Hospital are also involved in collaborative efforts around school health and day care. Seton Health System in Troy provides nursing services for Catholic Charities administered day care programs. Nurses visit the schools on a monthly basis and provide in-service education and distribute health education materials. This enables Catholic Charities to address the health education needs at the day care centers and also comply with state licensing requirements at a very low cost.

For more information, or to contact Catholic Charities USA, see their website at: www.catholiccharitiesusa.org