1. Colombia

On the northern tip of South America is ColOmbia, not ColUmbia. (Unfortunately, misspelling the country’s name is a common mistake.)

Colombia has enjoyed tremendous progress in recent years.  Its rebirth and work to transform lives is one reason why CHRISTUS Health’s international focus turned to the city of Cali in Colombia. 

Cali serves as headquarters to a very active 50-year old health care company.   Grupo Coomeva, among many things, is a cooperative with a quarter of a million employees and is located throughout 40 cities. In September, a definitive agreement with Coomeva and CHRISTUS became official.  The partnership means CHRISTUS won’t just be involved in direct patient clinical care alongside Coomeva, but also insurance products and technologies.

Ernie Sadau, President and CEO of CHRISTUS Health, and Alfredo Arana Velasco, CEO of Grupo Coomeva, sign an agreement between the two organizations.

The way Coomeva builds systems and helps its communities improve their health complements CHRISTUS’ experience and knowledge to respond to the call of the sick and infirm of every kind. CHRISTUS’ continuous growth in Latin America reminds us of many of the organizational principles for Catholic health care, including solidarity, and that all people are connected and part of one human family and deserve respect and the very best care CHRISTUS provides.

Read More about the Partnership Here: CHRISTUS Coomeva Partnership

Coomeva is a well-respected health and business partner in Latin America.  In October, during the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, Coomeva was presented a Gold Category Quality Award by Colombia President Juan Manual Santos Calderon.  Accepting the reward, which acknowledges excellence in organizational management, is Coomeva’s Executive President Alfredo Arana Velasco

2. Expanding Across East Texas

Halfway between Dallas and Shreveport is the city of Tyler, Texas, home of a thriving rose growing industry. Each year, the city plays host to the world renowned Texas Rose Festival.  Tyler is also home to the region’s preferred provider of health care services, Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics. In January, CHRISTUS Health and Trinity Mother Frances joined together. It was a big move. When the deal was final this year, Trinity Mother Frances’ six hospitals and 30 plus clinics became part of the CHRISTUS Health system, and four Trinity Mother Frances representatives joined the CHRISTUS Health Board: Sister Loretta Theresa Felici, J. Lindsey Bradley, Jr., FACHE Steven P. Keuer, M.D. and Ray Thompson, FACHE.

Welcoming CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances meant CHRISTUS also welcomed a third sponsoring congregation, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Like the Sisters of the Incarnate Word of Houston and the Sisters of the incarnate Word of San Antonio, the Holy Family of Nazareth Sisters’ focus is on promoting human dignity and to make the love of God a real and tangible presence in the world.

This collaboration was officially finalized in May of 2016. A month later, CHRISTUS took a 51 percent ownership stake in the Hopkins County Hospital District in Sulphur Springs, Texas. CHRISTUS manages the hospital and clinic property.  Patients of Memorial Hospital and Memorial Clinic now have access to even higher quality care and an even larger network of specialists as they became part of the CHRISTUS family.

In November, CHRISTUS announced efforts to fold Good Shepherd Health System in Longview and Marshall Texas into the CHRISTUS family. Work to officially complete the deal is still underway.

The growth in northeast Texas is strategic, as CHRISTUS continues to create a clinically integrated network throughout the region aiming to ensure health care needs in the community are met with the highest quality possible.

Stay tuned for 2017. There’s sure to be more CHRISTUS news from Northeast Texas.

3. Facility Upgrades and Expansions

In the last year, CHRISTUS Health has expanded from a company with $3.7 billion in owned or managed assets to one with $6.2 billion in assets under ownership or management. We’ve grown in the U.S. and internationally, but we’ve also invested in plenty of upgrades and expanded services.       

At CHRISTUS Health Shreveport-Bossier, leaders broke ground on a 10,000-square-foot expansion project that will give the growing Bossier community access to an entirely new form of health care. Slated to open fall of 2017, the new CHRISTUS ‘micro-hospital’ will help cater to the growing shift in preference from inpatient to outpatient procedures.  A multi-provider group will occupy the majority of the expanded space.

 

A new Hybrid Operating Room is doing double duty at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System. The new space, unveiled earlier this year, is a way to combine advanced diagnostic imaging, minimally invasive techniques and the ability to use images to guide intervention to treat complex cases close to home. CHRISTUS St. Michael also opened the region’s first Electrophysiology EP Lab and a new Oncology Clinic.  And they did it all while celebrating a huge birthday this year, turning 100 years old!

 

In Santa Fe, CHRISTUS St. Vincent celebrated a groundbreaking of its $44 million expansion and remodeling project to provide all private rooms for adult patients.

The CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System and The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio announced an expansion of their network of care into North San Antonio with the development of The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio Health Pavilion-Stone Oak.

They celebrated a lot of milestones this year.  But perhaps the most notable one happened in Spring 2016 as the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio opened its new two-story Goldsbury Foundation Lobby, Santa Rosa Chapel, Harvey E. Najim KidSTOP, Najim Family Foundation Child Life Center, Ava’s Book Nook, Café, Teaching Kitchen, Gift Shop, Patty & Joe Robles Family Waiting & Play Area, Sister Dorothea Burke Children’s Surgery Center and Wall of Honor.

To celebrate these new spaces, a “Transformation Celebration” was held outside the new lobby with more than 500 people in attendance, including members of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Associates, volunteers, physicians, members of the Hospital’s Family Advisory Board, community leaders, and supporters.

 

At CHRISTUS St. Patrick, $14 million in donations will go toward the purchase of the latest technology for Cardiology, Neuroscience and Oncology.

CHRISTUS St. Patrick’s front lobby also transformed in 2016.  It now features a beautifully stained glass donor wall by glass artist Frank Thompson.

 

CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini introduced life-saving exams to the community at the Women’s Life Center with the addition of Genius 3D Mammography. The technology combines 2D and 3D imaging with the goal of catching breast cancer as early as possible

 

 Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS opened their Intermediate Coronary Care Unit, which consists of 16 beds equipped with modern technology for monitoring and management of patients with cardiovascular diseases. The unit is designed especially for patients who are released from the Intensive Coronary Care Unit, or who are hospitalized from the Emergency Department and need a stricter monitoring than normal.

This unit, along with the Intensive Coronary Care and Cardiovascular Surgery Recovery Units, make Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS the biggest center in Chile. The Intermediate Coronary Care Unit team is comprised of 40 Associates.

CHRISTUS Spohn’s new Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Family Health Center is nearing completion.  The facility will offer a continuum of care and open its doors to the community next month. A new Patient Care Tower broke ground at CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Shoreline with a major transformation already completed at the site.  2017 should be a huge year for CHRISTUS’ delivery of care in South Texas.

 

In CHRISTUS Southeast Texas, construction began for a new outpatient center in Mid-County, $4 million went toward a new state-of-the-art catheterization lab, and a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at St. Elizabeth opened to appreciative families and community members. New wound care services arrived at St. Mary, and Jasper Memorial added new 3-D mammography.

 

4. Insurance Marketplace: 203,456 LIVES TOUCHED

While  much conversation around the Health Insurance Marketplace has turned to promises to repeal and replace it, enrollment continues to be strong.  With financial support available through 2017, many Americans are choosing to purchase insurance that makes health care accessible and affordable.

 

Through Dec. 19, 6.4 million consumers had signed up for Health Insurance Marketplace plans through HealthCare.gov, an increase of 400,000 plan selections compared to last year at this time.

Despite plenty of uncertainty on the legislative and regulatory front, CHRISTUS has reason to celebrate in our commitment to help those we serve get health insurance and subsequently enjoy convenient access to affordable health care.

 

The CHRISTUS Health Plan continues to be an option in many CHRISTUS markets on the 2017 Health Insurance Exchange.  The CHRISTUS Health Plan has been working on serving its members all year. In fact, it was the title sponsor for Freedom over Texas, a July 4^th event that takes place in the greater Houston area.

 

Another community event, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, brought CHRISTUS Health Plan representatives out into the community to meet face-to-face with CHRISTUS Health Plan members and potential members.

Access, affordability and quality are what CHRISTUS works for in all of the communities we serve.

5.  CHRISTUS History and Future

Turning 150 feels really good.  This year, CHRISTUS reached a milestone that was very special: the 150th anniversary of the call of Bishop Dubuis that led to CHRISTUS’ legacy in the U.S.  Upon their arrival in Galveston in 1866, the Sisters called to Texas by Bishop Dubuis founded a hospital in Galveston—the first Catholic hospital in Texas.  Just three years later, a cholera epidemic in the growing city of San Antonio prompted Bishop Dubuis to seek help from the Galveston sisters. This work started a ministry that now all 42,000 CHRISTUS Associates hould be honored to continue to this day.

In May, many leaders from CHRISTUS got a chance to take a domestic pilgrimage and see first-hand how resilient and adaptable our early founders had to be in order to meet the needs of those they served. You can read more about it here: Domestic Pilgrimage inspires

We continue to meet needs in the communities we serve.  And now as we go into 2017, CHRISTUS has many reasons to be proud.  The CHRISTUS Health system is finishing 2016 with an impressive almost 600 services and facilities, including more than 60 hospitals and long-term care facilities, 350 clinics and outpatient centers, and dozens of other health ministries and ventures. CHRISTUS services can be found in more than 100 cities in the United States, Mexico, Chile and Colombia.

2016 was a good year for CHRISTUS, and we’re excited to see what good things happen in 2017!