Master class in mission 3 Trinity’s brand campaign 5 Executive changes 7 PERIODICAL RATE PUBLICATION
MARCH 1, 2023 VOLUME 39, NUMBER 4
Our Lady of the Lake’s Faith Fund counters predatory lenders By LISA EISENHAUER
THE FAITH FUND Loans since founding
Total loaned
Average interest rate
Retained wealth for borrowers
1,742
$6.4 million
5.9%
$18 million
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge joined a coalition of organizations determined to convince the Louisiana State Legislature in 2015 to rein in payday lenders, whose predatory practices were ensnaring some of the medical center’s team members. The coalition wanted the state to put an end to tactics that drive interest rates on the lenders’ short-term loans outrageously
high, in some cases up to 3,000%. Their effort didn’t end well. “We failed miserably,” recalls Coletta Barrett, vice president for mission at Our Lady of the Lake. In effect, Barrett says the lawmakers told the coalition: “These poor people have no other options or alternatives. You just need to continue to let them be prey.” Rather than throwing in the towel, Our Lady of the Lake and others decided to Continued on 2
CommonSpirit sees care navigation networks gain momentum
Jennifer McMenamin
By JULIE MINDA
CENTERING CARE ON MOMS-TO-BE Research shows that the CenteringPregnancy group prenatal care model in use at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore improves birth outcomes for Black women and their babies. Here, yoga and mindfulness instructor Kahlil Kuykendall, left foreground, teaches balancing and stretching poses to, clockwise from center, Nevaeh Weathers, 20, of West Baltimore; Jnai Player, 20, of Baltimore; Destiny Johnson, 22, of West Baltimore; and Keimyra Pumphrey, 21, of Baltimore. Participants learn to advocate for themselves with care providers and they build supportive friendships. Story on PAGE 8
It’s been about a year since CommonSpirit Health formally launched community health worker networks in six of its markets and several of those networks are gaining traction and having a measurable impact on the lives of vulnerable people who previously had struggled to access health and social services. Working with the nonprofit Pathways Community HUB Institute, CommonSpirit spurred the creation of, and provided seed funding for, the networks. The networks engage community health workers in identifying vulnerable individuals and guiding them on specific pathways to attain services so they can address the most pressing socioeconomic concerns they face. Under the approach, the community health workers’ pay is partly based on their ability to Continued on 6
PACE providers use satellite model to extend services to seniors in congregate housing By JULIE MINDA
About a decade ago Cardinal Timothy Dolan challenged ArchCare — the Archdiocese of New York’s health care ministry — to help develop a solution for the growing number of elderly clergy who wished to age in place but whose congregations could not meet their health care needs. ArchCare came up with an effective answer: It would extend the comprehensive medical and social services ArchCare already provided frail seniors through its PACE centers to the retired clergy in the congregate living centers they called home. Since then, ArchCare has created PACE center satellites for two congregations in New York state and is preparing to do the
same for a third. “Cardinal Dolan wanted retired religious to get services from an organization that understands the importance of them staying in religious community,” says ArchCare President and Chief Executive Scott LaRue. “We developed a program to meet those needs and that allows much independence for the religious (men and women). We understand religious communities. This is the perfect fit for a health care ministry of the church.” PACE stands for Program of AllInclusive Care for the Elderly. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pay PACE providers to deliver comprehensive medical and social service to keep frail, elderly Continued on 4
A Sister of Charity of New York strolls with a staff member at the Kittay Senior Apartments in New York City. An ArchCare Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly provides services to sisters at the complex, so that they can age in place.