Catholic Health USA Podcast Catholic Health Association

Virtual care is here to stay. But what exactly is it? In this episode, Sandy Dieleman, CEO of Avera@Home and Dr. Carter Fenton, medical director of Mercy’s vAcute, discuss how the pandemic helped hardwire telehealth as a viable and important element in delivering health care into the homes of patients and the important role it plays in helping care for those suffering from chronic conditions.

The importance of a strong global health network has become abundantly clear during COVID-19. As Catholic health care in the United States continues to support global health initiatives during pandemics, wars and natural disasters, how relief efforts are organized and implemented requires intentional planning and coordination. Mary Beth Powers, President and CEO of CMMB joins Bruce Compton, CHA’s senior director, Global Health, to discuss how U.S. Catholic health care can help advance the delivery of health care internationally.

COVID-19 has created major challenges for the long-term care workforce in the U.S. But even before the pandemic, there were issues around retaining and recruiting these essential caregivers. Two experts from Leading Age, which represents more than 5,000 nonprofit aging services providers, provide their insights on this critically important topic.

For many, including some health care professionals, palliative care is often equated with hospice care despite differences in how they apply to patients.  In this episode Dr. Glen Komatsu, regional chief medical officer of Hospice & Palliative Care for Providence St. Joseph Health, Southern California, and Denise Hess, CHA’s director of Supportive Care, explain the benefits of palliative care and discuss how patients and their loved ones can talk to their physicians and caregivers about receiving care that’s designed to support the treatment of symptoms and side effects of serious disease and improve overall quality of life.

This episode looks at the importance of environmental justice from both a domestic and global perspective. Guests Laura Anderko of Villanova University, and Susan Barnett of Faiths for Safe Water, provide fresh insights into the articles they each wrote for the 2021 fall issue of Health Progress. The topic of environmental justice also connects to CHA’s Confronting Racism by Achieving Health Equity Initiative.

CHA is participating in a racial equity storytelling project that focuses on families dealing with the pandemic who live in the 63106 zip code of St. Louis. Dick Weiss, the project’s co-founder, joins resident Kim Daniel who discusses the challenges she and her neighbors face in their community. Kim also provides her personal perspective on why she is hesitant to accept the COVID-19 vaccine.