A family of nurses 2 Planting trees and hope 13 Executive changes 16 PERIODICAL RATE PUBLICATION
JUNE 2026 VOLUME 42, NUMBER 6
ASSEMBLY 2026: UNITED FOR CHANGE ACHIEVEMENT CITATION
‘Look what we can accomplish together’
Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach serves healthcare facilities and patients around the world By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach Executive Director Erica Smith remembers talking by phone about two years ago with administrators of a hospital in Western Africa. She explained that her nonprofit could ship them whatever medical equipment and supplies they needed: beds, linens, syringes, surgical trays. She noted, “You get to choose what you want.” They repeated back to her, “We get to choose what we want?” Smith thought there was a miscommunication or misunderstanding. The administrators explained that another organization had sent equipment that they didn’t choose, and much that they couldn’t use. “Yes, you get to choose what you want,” Smith replied. The joy over her response was palpable. It felt like a triumphant movie moment when everyone cheers, she said. “We could make Mission Outreach faster, cheaper, or whatever, but we couldn’t do that and do it at the quality that we do,” she explained. “It’s a lot of work, and it’s Continued on 6
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Bonnie Price: Violence response teams “are not a nicety, they are a necessity.” PAGE 3
A patient gets a blood pressure check at a clinic run by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis in Bukoba, Tanzania. Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach has provided supplies to the clinic as well as to hospitals and clinics in 101 other countries.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
TOMORROW’S LEADERS HONOREES SHOW A COLLECTIVE DEEP COMMITMENT TO CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE. PAGES 8-10
Sr. Maria Luisa Vera’s visionary leadership uplifted the vulnerable. PAGE 4
SISTER CAROL KEEHAN AWARD Dr. Fred Rottnek is an innovator in caring for those on the margins. PAGE 5
Providence cardiologist’s growing fitness program reaches thousands By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
meaningful way. “For me, that wasn’t just in the exam Nearly 15 years ago, a dozen or so people room,” he said. “It was out on the track.” Dr. James Beckerman knew personHeart to Start since has evolved, ally and through his work as a carand thousands of people in the prodiologist with the Providence Heart gram complete a 5K together each Clinic — St. Vincent gathered on a year, both in person and virtually. rainy weeknight at a city park track An outgrowth of Heart to Start is a in Portland, Oregon. Their goal: broader Providence wellness procomplete a 5K together, no matter gram called Basecamp Prevention their fitness level. + Wellness, which is also free to For Beckerman, that free pro- Beckerman everyone, everywhere. gram, which they called Heart to Start, was Basecamp, which started in 2017, offers a way to extend his work in an impactful, Continued on 16
Dr. James Beckerman celebrates at the finish line of the Heart to Start 5K in Portland, Oregon, with Katie Reed, one of the first people who joined the program when it started nearly 15 years ago.