Connecting values and program development. A Canadian hospital's experience with mission integration

Catholic values distinguish Catholic healthcare facilities, their staff members like to say. But those values can remain merely rhetorical unless they are integrated into the facility's actual programs. The staff of St. Joseph's Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario, has been encouraged to express the facility's values in everyday language. More important, the staff has had an opportunity to employ those values--a belief in the sacredness of life and the dignity of the person; a special obligation to the poor and vulnerable; and a commitment to treat the "whole person"--in two new programs. One is for women who have miscarriages. The hospital's Obstetrics Department, realizing that society often fails to recognize the deep grief involved, developed a program for women experiencing early pregnancy loss (EPL). The EPL protocol stresses the uniqueness of each patient and the importance of support, continuity, appropriateness of care, and postdischarge follow-up for her. The hospital has also emphasized Catholic values in developing a set of guidelines for the examination of patients. St. Joseph's found that publicity about sexual abuse was making both patients and medical practitioners wary of physical examinations. The guidelines, called "Culture and Sensitivity," remind care givers that patients feel vulnerable and should be treated with respect and care, on one hand. On the other hand, the guidelines say, appropriate reassuring touch remains part of the healing process.