Palliative care webinar focuses on giving quality care to the whole person

By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN

Palliative care is core to the work of the Catholic health care ministry. By helping patients get relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of a serious illness, the care adds value beyond its ability to reduce health care costs, said speakers at a webinar hosted by CHA.

“It is better quality care. It’s the way we want to care for people,” said Sarah Hetue Hill, the regional vice president for mission integration for CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System and CHRISTUS Children’s.

Hill discussed palliative care along with Maria Gatto, chair of CHA’s Palliative Care Advisory Council and a palliative care consultant. The webinar on July 26 was called “Palliative Care: Connecting Catholic Health Care’s Mission & Today’s Quality and Business Imperatives.”

Palliative care treats the whole person — mind, body and spirit. It can be provided at any stage of the illness by a team of trained specialists that includes doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains and other care specialists. Studies show that those who receive palliative care may spend fewer days in the hospital, have fewer emergency room visits, improve their quality of life, and may even live longer, according to the Center to Advance Palliative Care. The center offers health care professionals and organizations resources to provide highquality and equitable care for people living with serious illness.

“Those of us who are very passionate about palliative care like to say that it’s truly a hallmark of who we are, and that’s because it stems directly from our history and our legacy,” said Hill.

She pointed out that the word “palliative” comes from the Latin root of “palliare,” meaning to cloak — like extra protection to shield people from harm. She noted that Jesus cared for the mind, body and spirit of lepers and a hemorrhagic woman by healing them not only physically but also spiritually by returning them to their communities. Many other groups and religious orders have followed suit over the years by attending to the whole person, she said.

Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have all spoken out and supported palliative care, she pointed out. Pope Francis said palliative care recognizes “the value of the person.”

Who can use palliative care?

Gatto outlined case studies of those who

Palliative care ensures value

Palliative care is specialized medical care that focuses on relieving the symptoms and stress of any serious illness, ideally alongside curative treatment. A strong evidence base exists proving its impact on quality, satisfaction, consumer demand and cost. Because it focuses on the highest need and highest cost patient segment, palliative care is an essential strategy for population health management.

IMPROVES QUALITY OF LIFE AND SYMPTOM BURDEN

DRIVES HIGH SATISFACTION AND POSITIVE PATIENT EXPERIENCES

Reduces with improvements lasting months after initial consultation of people who received palliative care are likely to recommend it to others

CHA supports Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act

In July, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate. The act aims to bolster the palliative care and hospice workforce and invest in training, education and research. The bill has changed over the years but the goal of offering more training for people to provide palliative care remains the same, and CHA has supported such efforts for the last decade.

Also in July, Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, CHA president and CEO, and members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a joint letter of support to leadership of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions.

could use palliative care:

Mike, a family man diagnosed with head and neck cancer, needs help coordinating care so he can receive pain management for his symptoms alongside curative treatment.

Anne, a young woman experiencing pain and disability after a mastectomy, needs coordination between close cancer monitoring and pain management so she can sleep through the night and return to the gym.

Martha, who has worsening dementia and arthritis, needs support alongside her husband Bernard, who wants to care for her at home. Her team is managing her symptoms, assessing her home for fall risks and coordinating her care.

“It’s an extra layer of support,” Gatto said.

“It doesn’t take over the care, but it adds more support. ... It’s about living well and being at home to get the best possible care to control your serious illness, and it helps to coordinate all your providers talking together.”

Coordinating to fill a need

She pointed out that the Palliative Care Quality Collaborative is the only unified national registry of specialty palliative care data. Care providers can use the data to look at other programs to see how their work measures up and where to focus resources, she said.

Palliative care is key to supporting an aging nation. The population of people aged 85 and older will more than triple by 2060, Gatto said. Surveys show that patients want palliative care once they are informed about it, she said.

“The Case for Hospital Palliative Care,” a publication from the Center to Advance Palliative Care, says the care improves patients’ quality of life and reduces health care costs, including by reducing the need for emergency and intensive care. For a midsized hospital conducting 500 palliative care consultations each year, the center says savings can add up to more than $1.6 million a year.

“So get out your calculator, because if you look at these numbers, that is the huge value of that business imperative,” Gatto

“The Catholic Church teaches that all people possess inherent dignity and worth, and as such human life is a gift from God that no one may dispose of at will,” the letter said in part. The letter also cited Pope Francis, who said: “Palliative care is an authentic expression of the human and Christian activity of providing care, the tangible symbol of the compassionate ‘remaining’ at the side of the suffering person.” said. vhahn@chausa.org

She pointed out that more than 83% of U.S. hospitals with 50 or more beds had a palliative care program in 2020, up from just over 24% in 2000. Palliative care has been one of the fastest-growing fields as health care organizations, health plans and policymakers have recognized the improvement and quality that also reduces costs.

Gatto said health systems should focus on sustainability and growth strategies. Among the things they can do: work on quality standardization, improve financial coding and billing practices, identify patients sooner, improve staffing models, and focus on team health and resilience.

Hill said that while hospitals are struggling financially, it’s imperative to remind senior leaders of the hospital’s mission and the work of their founders. “This is the work that they started with. So, let’s bring it back to this,” she said.

Visit chausa.org/chw for a link to the webinar.

Vice President Communications and Marketing

Brian P. Reardon

Editor Lisa Eisenhauer leisenhauer@chausa.org

314-253-3437

Associate Editor Julie Minda jminda@chausa.org

314-253-3412

Associate Editor Valerie Schremp Hahn vhahn@chausa.org

314-253-3410

Graphic Design

Norma Klingsick

Advertising ads@chausa.org

314-253-3477

Catholic Health World (ISSN 8756-4068) is published semimonthly, except monthly in January, April, July and October and copyrighted © by the Catholic Health Association of the United States.

POSTMASTER: Address all subscription orders, inquiries, address changes, etc., to CHA Service Center, 4455 Woodson Road, St. Louis, MO 63134-3797; phone: 800-230-7823; email: servicecenter@ chausa.org. Periodicals postage rate is paid at St. Louis and additional mailing offices. Annual subscription rates: CHA members free, others $29 and foreign $29. Opinions, quotes and views appearing in Catholic Health World do not necessarily reflect those of CHA and do not represent an endorsement by CHA. Acceptance of advertising for publication does not constitute approval or endorsement by the publication or CHA. All advertising is subject to review before acceptance.

Providence’s environmental efforts win top honors in Laudato Si’ awards

Catholic Climate Covenant named Providence St. Joseph Health as the health care winner in its 2023 U.S. Laudato Si’ Champions Awards.

In honoring Providence, Catholic Climate Covenant said the Renton, Washington-based health system “has been at the forefront of environmental sustainability for two decades. With a visionary pledge to become carbon negative by 2030, Providence implemented a comprehensive environmental sustainability framework across their network of hospitals, medical office buildings and business units.”

© Catholic Health Association of the United States, August 15, 2023

Catholic Climate Covenant is a nonprofit that partners with other organizations to inspire and equip U.S. Catholics to care for creation. Its Laudato Si’ awards honor organizations that embody the spirit of the encyclical written by Pope Francis calling on Catholics to care for the natural environ- ment and all people.

The award winners were announced July 27 at the end of the 2023 Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church Conference. The awards were given in 10 categories.

In addition to naming Providence as its top health care honoree, the covenant cited two Catholic health systems for honorable mentions. St. Louis-based Ascension was lauded in part for developing “a comprehensive Environmental Impact and Sustainability program that builds upon their existing efforts in energy conservation, waste management, recycling, and the use of renewable fuels.”

CommonSpirit Health won the other honorable mention. The convenant recognized that Chicago-based system for a commitment to the environment that “is deeply ingrained in its core values and strategic plan.”

San Diego Padres

Sister takes the mound on Catholic Night

Sr. Candida Massabo tosses out the first pitch before the San Diego Padres game against the New York Mets at Petco Park in San Diego on July 7. The Padres declared the evening Catholic Night, an annual event since 2015. The purpose is to strengthen and encourage Catholic laity to witness their faith in a public setting. The team allotted 4,500 tickets to Catholic parishes across San Diego County. A sellout crowd of 42,000 fans was in attendance.

Sr. Massabo, a member of the congregation Saint Maria Goretti Sisters, is a chaplain at Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego. Despite Sr. Massabo’s strong start on the mound, the Padres lost the game 7-5.

SSM Health improves benefits for employees who become living organ donors

SSM Health is striving to alleviate some of the disincentives and barriers living organ donors face by improving its pay and medical leave benefits for employees who choose to become donors.

It can be difficult for people to become living donors, partly because they may not get the needed medical leave time to recuperate during an estimated four- to sixweek recovery period. According to SSM Health, it is typical for people to use vacation time or take unpaid leave to make their organ donation.

The St. Louis-based system has changed its benefits policies “to support our colleagues who would consider such a self- less act,” Sherry Ward, vice president of total rewards, said in a release on the new policies.

Employees serving as living donors are eligible for six weeks of medical leave at full pay and full coverage of their medical expenses under SSM Health’s employee health plan, WellFirst Health. Before the change, employees were eligible for 60% pay only for medically necessary time off.

Dr. Krista Lentine, medical director of living donation at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital and a nephrologist with the affiliated SLUCare Physician Group, said in the release that as a transplant physician she sees firsthand the impact of providing living donors with support during recovery after donation surgery. She said the new SSM Health policies help “living donor employees recover without incurring financial loss in sharing the gift of life.”

She added that improving employee benefits for these staff members illustrates that SSM Health, its facilities and its transplant program are dedicated “to reducing barriers to living donation and living donor transplantation.”

According to the American Society of Transplantation, the most common organ donations are a kidney or a portion of the liver. The Health Resources and Services