The value of palliative care 2 Incentivizing living organ donors 3 Executive changes 6 PERIODICAL RATE PUBLICATION
AUGUST 15, 2023 VOLUME 39, NUMBER 13
CHRISTUS creates keystone document to ease advance care planning
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This happened to be an emerging novel pathogen that we really didn’t know much about
By LISA EISENHAUER
yet. So, it was a
CHRISTUS Health has created a onepage guide to help patients figure out where they are in the process of advance care planning and point them to resources so they can reach their goals. Steven Squires, the system’s vice president of ethics, led the work that resulted in the keystone document called “Planning Your Path | Wishes and Health Care.” He wants the succinct reference to make it easier for care providers Squires and patients to have oftendifficult conversations around planning for care in the event of a sudden illness or as the end of life nears. “I hope that more people will start talking about what is often a taboo topic, I think, in American culture,” Squires says. The document was the product of a “structured exercise” undertaken by CHRISTUS’ palliative care advisory council to figure out the best method the system could adopt to facilitate advance care
perfect use of
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our space and our expertise.” — Christa Arguinchona Emergency workers arrive at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital with a patient during a preparedness drill in March. The hospital in Spokane, Washington, has a special pathogens unit, one of 13 in the nation that treat people with high-consequence infectious diseases.
Pathogens unit at Providence cared for some of country’s first patients with COVID-19 By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
In February 2020, when a cruise ship arrived at a California port carrying passengers with COVID-19, the workers in the special pathogens unit at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children’s Hospital in Spokane, Washington, were ready to help.
The unit is one of 13 spread throughout the country and designated by the federal government to treat high-consequence infectious diseases. They are known as Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers. Providence St. Joseph Health is the only Catholic health care system with a unit. When the four COVID patients from the
cruise ship who were under federal quarantine arrived at Sacred Heart’s unit in the early days of the virus’ spread, “There was a lot of response based out of fear,” said Christa Arguinchona, a nurse and Providence special pathogens program manager. “And so, it was challenging for sure, but it was also an opportunity to educate Continued on 5
SSM Health surgeon hopes book inspires Black girls to become doctors CommonSpirit
hospital programs acquaint minority students with health careers
By VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN
Dr. Jovita Ugochi Oruwari wants Black girls to see her. She wants Black girls to see what’s possible, that they can be successful, live full lives and help Black patients facing sometimes drastic health disparities. Oruwari, a breast surgeon at SSM Health DePaul Hospital — St. Louis, edited a book that published this spring called Black Girls in White Coats. The book profiles 60 female doctors from around the country in different medical disciplines. Black physicians make up 5% of the physician workforce, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Black women account for just under 3%. The nation’s Black population is 14%. Oruwari, 55, a native of Nigeria, attended college and medical school in the U.S. and has worked in St. Louis for more than 20 years. She was an oncologic breast surgeon for the Mercy St. Louis Cancer and Breast Institute, which is in a predominantly white area. When she moved to DePaul in 2020, and the majority of her patients were Black, she was struck by what she learned about disparities in medicine and the patients’ Continued on 7
By JULIE MINDA
Dr. Jovita Ugochi Oruwari meets with patient Dawn Patrick of St. Louis in July. Oruwari is a breast surgeon at SSM Health DePaul Hospital — St. Louis. She edited a book called Black Girls in White Coats, which features profiles of 60 Black female doctors.
Like many other health care facilities across the U.S., sites within CommonSpirit Health have been increasingly concerned that minority populations are underrepresented on their staffs. Such introspection has led hospitals in two CommonSpirit regions to develop internships that invite high school and college students of minority backgrounds to experience firsthand what it is like working in a health profession. They also get support from on-staff clinicians and receive handholding and other help to get started in a health care career. Though the programming at the hospitals is in its infancy, it already is showing strong potential to build minority students’ Continued on 6