Renewing the Covenant with Patients and Society
Thank you for your invitation to speak with you this afternoon. These are turbulent times for medicine and health care, especially for physicians, and Dr. Todd (Editor's note: Executive Vice President of the AMA) and Dr. Bristow (President of the AMA) may have felt that, as a pastor, I could give some comfort to you who daily navigate these powerful currents of change. I am not sure how much comfort I can offer, but I can offer some observations that may help guide your own conduct and that of the medical profession as the pace of change accelerates in the coming years. Such an offer may sound presumptuous, coming as it does from a priest rather than a physician. So, before going further, let me share some of the experience that led me to this seemingly brash venture. My many pastoral roles often intersect with doctors, institutions of health care, and health care policy. I am responsible, for example, for the spiritual care of the sick of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Within the diocese there are more than 1 DO health care agencies, including 20 hospitals and 28 nursing homes. As a member of the Administrative Committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, I have helped to articulate the Conference's views on national health policy and other social issues. I am also a member of the Board of the Catholic Health Association, which represents about 900 Catholic health care providers nationwide. In these roles I have the opportunity to converse and consult with some of the best minds in medicine and health care administration. And I have had the chance to write and speak frequently on the nature of health care and its significance in human life, with a particular focus on the importance of not-forprofit institutions. In all of this I have seen access to health care as a fundamental