Birth-control Mandate Headed for a new Supreme Court Showdown
President Barack Obama’s health care law is headed for a new Supreme Court showdown over companies’ religious objections to the law’s birth-control mandate. Amid the troubled rollout of the health law, and 17 months after the justices upheld it, the Obama administration is defending a provision that requires most employers that offer health insurance to their workers to provide a range of preventive health benefits, including contraception. Roughly 40 for-profit companies have sued, arguing they should not be forced to cover some or all forms of birth control because doing so would violate their religious beliefs. (more…)
Reception with the Catholic Bishops
A Reception and Conversation with the Catholic Bishops of the State of Minnesota will be held on December 4, 2013 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. for CHA-MN Members. The event will be held at the University of St. Thomas Anderson Student Center 2115 Summit Ave, St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, contact Mary Jane O’Brien at the Minnesota Catholic Conference at 651-227-8777 or mjobrien@mncc.org.
Benedictine Health System names Rocklon B. “Rocky” Chapin, as president/CEO
The Benedictine Health System Board of Directors has named Rocklon B. “Rocky” Chapin, FACHE, as president/CEO of Benedictine Health System effective Jan. 1, 2014. Chapin replaces Dale M. Thompson who announced his retirement in March 2013. Chapin joined the Benedictine Health System in January 2013 and currently serves as senior vice president, business development and strategic planning. He has been a leader in the management and health care industry for more than 35 years with experience in operations improvement, board and physician relations, managed care negotiations, strategic planning and business development. During his time at BHS, he has led System growth and partnership efforts with a specific emphasis on post-acute care initiatives and relationships with major hospitals and health systems.
CHA Releases Study on Theological Foundations of Catholic Healthcare
Under the direction of M. Therese Lysaught, Ph.D., CHA has released a study entitled, Living Catholic Health Care as Caritas in Communion. The analysis offers no recommendations regarding membership criteria or identifying behaviors or markers of Catholic identity that health care institutions should adopt. Nor does it provide a checklist or a formula for assessing which health care institutions are Catholic. And it stakes no particular position on the for-profit versus not for-profit question regarding Catholic health care. The task of this study was to identify the theological questions and analyses that might help inform CHA’s discussions about membership. More broadly, the task of this study was to identify the theological questions and fundamental commitments that ought to inform its discernment processes going forward. To access the complete study, visit here.
St. Mary’s Winsted Honored with National Quality Award
The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) announced the five care centers that have earned a 2013 Gold – Excellence in Quality National Quality award, including St. Mary’s Care Center of Winsted, MN. The award is the final of three distinct awards possible through the National Quality Award program presented by AHCA/NCAL. The competitive award program highlights select facilities across the nation that serve as models of excellence in providing high-quality long term care. (more…)