CHA chair’s holiday message 2 HSHS anniversary 14 Executive changes 19 PERIODICAL RATE PUBLICATION
DECEMBER 2025 VOLUME 41, NUMBER 12
‘A resource on the spot’: Avera pantries help ensure patients don’t go hungry
At Benedictine Duluth, staff, residents and some four-legged friends bring Christmas story to life By JULIE MINDA
In the lead-up to the third annual living Nativity Dec. 3 at the Benedictine Living Community — Duluth continuum-of-care facility in Minnesota, the campus is abuzz with excitement. Rev. Christine Sabol, a spiritual care director for the facility and the orchestrator of the production, is figuring out which residents and staff to cast for each of the dozen or so roles. The would-be actors are perusing the options in the costume closet. Sabol is scheduling the arrival of the animals, which are part of
By NANCY FOWLER
In 2022, when Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Avera Health conducted a community health needs assessment and began screening at some clinics, some results were surprising. Between 10% and 15% of patients reported problems with having enough to eat. In some locations, it was as high as 30%, according to Lacey McCormack, director of rural research at the Avera Research Institute. “I cannot tell you how many people said they were shocked to see McCormack how high the food insecurity was,” McCormack says. “And when we identify an issue, we ask: How can we address it?” McCormack and others came up with an idea called Wellness Pantries. The pilot project distributes food where it’s convenient: at patients’ medical appointments. “We wanted to provide a resource on the spot,” McCormack says. “With this setup, we are able to do just that.” The Avera Research Institute and Avera’s Community Partnerships program work with Feeding South Dakota, a hunger relief organization that provides the food. The first Wellness Pantry opened in late 2024 in rural Parkston, South Dakota, followed in February by two inside Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center’s obstetric and pediatric specialty clinics in Sioux Falls. In July, two more opened in primary care clinics in Sioux Falls. Patients, or caregivers bringing children Continued on 17
CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
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‘Hope can be a lot stronger than fear’: Wisconsin man returns yearly as Santa to Ascension NICU By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
Around this time of year, as Christmas approaches, Greg Phelps dons his Santa suit, puts on his white beard, fake belly and black boots, and drives to Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital — St. Joseph in Milwaukee. He walks to the neonatal intensive care unit, a place all too familiar to him and his family. He comes to visit the babies. “It makes us feel special and brings Continued on 20
Top: Residents and staff of Benedictine Living Community — Duluth in Minnesota — joined by a camel with a very large personality — present a living Nativity during the 2024 Advent season. Bottom left: Greg Phelps, in his Santa suit, holds a baby in the neonatal intensive care unit at Ascension SE Wisconsin Hospital — St. Joseph. His son Kyle, 27, spent time in the same NICU when he was born. Bottom right: Kelli Grevey, left, and Paisha Thaxton-Polite, nurses at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina, stand by a statue of the baby Jesus in the nursery. The statue is delivered to the hospital’s Nativity every Christmas.
Special delivery Every Christmas Eve at midnight, nurses at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina, bring baby Jesus from nursery to Nativity. PAGE 19
Safe Parking LA gives people who are unhoused a secure place overnight
Glenn Marzano/@CHA
By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
A woman who goes by her artist name, Sundog, demonstrates how she covers the windows of her 2003 Toyota Camry for sleeping overnight at a parking lot in West Los Angeles. A nonprofit called Safe Parking LA provides a security officer, bathrooms and support at lots for people who live out of their vehicles.
LOS ANGELES — The 61-year-old woman, who goes by her artist name, Sundog, wants a home. But she’s made her temporary shelter, her 2003 Toyota Camry, as comfortable as possible. She removed the front passenger seat and installed a piece of plywood as a base for a thin mattress, a piece of upholstery foam, and a sleeping bag. “So that’s it,” says Sundog, demonstrating how she stretches out with her head toward the back of the car and her feet near
the dashboard. She motions to a jumble of empty plastic cups and a lunch cooler on the back seat. “That’s usually a little neater over there. But it just is what it is.” Sundog has been living out of her car since Christmas Eve of last year, a present she says she gave herself after leaving a living situation with an alcoholic roommate. For a few months, she parked near the beach, trying to stay under the radar but always worrying about her safety. Then she learned about Safe Parking LA, which provides safe overnight parking for people who Continued on 16
Those who have experienced homelessness advise on Dignity Health council. PAGE 16