By Brian Dryden, Canadian Catholic News
[Ottawa – CCN] – At a time when the world is facing a global health crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the underlying principles of Catholic social teaching are helping inform the way that health authorities in Canada are addressing the crisis, says the new leader of the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada.
“It has been interesting during the COVID-19 worldwide emergency to see Catholic social teaching coming to the forefront,” said John Ruetz, who will take over as the new president and CEO of the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada (CHAC) on July 1.
“Principles such as the common good, sanctity of life and respect for workers have prominently factored into our Canadian response,” he said.
Ruetz, who has served as president and CEO of the Catholic Health Sponsors of Ontario (CHSO) for the past six years, will take up his new position on July 1 with a long-standing appreciation of Catholic health care that dates back to the very day that he was born.
“I was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener. The administrator of the hospital was my great Aunt, Sister Paula Schnurr, a Sister of St. Joseph of Hamilton,” he told the Canadian Catholic News. “I like to think that Catholic health care was in my blood from the very beginning.”
Since being appointed as the incoming president and CEO of CHAC, Ruetz has been working with Michael Shea, CHAC’s current president who is retiring, for a “smooth transition” at the organization that is an alliance of 14 sponsors/owners representing 124 Catholic health institutions across Canada.
Catholic health care institutions have an historic and large footprint across the country and have been a vital aspect of health care in Canada where 88,000 staff serve more than five million people each year and oversee an annual budget of more than $6 billion annually.
And it is that historic role of Catholic health care in Canada that Ruetz hopes to build upon in the coming years.
“While we are very proud of our history and our current organizations, a priority for the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada is to encourage a deepening and expanding role for the Catholic health ministry within the public health care and social services system in Canada,” said Ruetz.
“We know that access to affordable housing, care for those with mental health and addictions, high quality palliative care to support people at the end of life, and care for our vulnerable elderly are priorities in many communities,” Ruetz said. “We are encouraging all Catholic health organizations to work with partners in their community to identify and respond to these needs.”
While CHAC looks to expand Catholic health options and services in public health and social services across the country, health care providers of faith, be they Catholic or not, are facing new challenges when trying to observe and follow what their faith dictates while working in the health care system.
The decision by the provincial government in B.C. to pull its funding by 2021 of a hospice that refused to provide assistance for those who want to commit legally-sanctioned suicide under Canada’s medically-assisted death system has become a rallying point for those who are vehemently opposed to legal euthanasia in Canada.
The issue of conscience rights for health care providers has become one of the big issues that health services offered by faith communities have to deal with going forward, especially since the federal government is in the process of expanding the number of people in Canada who would qualify for euthanasia following a Quebec court decision that struck down the original federal law’s requirement that a person’s death must already be imminent before they could seek medically-assisted death.
Considering that “many Catholic health organizations offer palliative care as one of their flagship programs,” Ruetz said conscience rights for health care workers is a vital issue for the CHAC.
“It is critically important that no health care organization be compelled to provide a service that is contrary to its religious beliefs,” Ruetz said. “The Catholic Health Alliance of Canada advocates for legislative and policy options that provide conscience rights for Catholic organizations and our staff.”
Ruetz said he is looking forward to taking up his new role as CHAC president and CEO on July 1 and will continue to follow his lifetime path as a champion of Catholic health care.
“Catholic health care is known for its willingness to go where the need is the greatest, identifying and responding to unmet need in our communities, with particular attention to people who are vulnerable and marginalized.” he said.
“This continues to be the core of our ministry today.”
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