The Huffington Post offers “A Conversation With Sister Carol Keehan About Health Care Challenges”
“Catholic nuns know lots about Health care. They founded hospitals all over the United States and ran them with love and grit. Sister Carol Keehan is president and chief executive officer of The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) that supports the roughly 630 Catholic hospitals that operate today in the US. With over 40 years as a nurse and administrator behind her, she is a passionate advocate for decent Health care. She knows the issues for the Affordable Health Care Act inside out, but in a series of lengthy conversations never missed the chance to drive home her central message: assuring that every person can find and afford Health care is not an option. It is a moral imperative.
Sister Carol was a finalist for the 2013 Opus Prize, run by Georgetown University. She caught her breath briefly to answer some questions about her work, her life, and her views on Obamacare. A video about Sister Carol is here, and the full interview is here.
The interview covers the following issues…
- Why do you care so much about Health care?
- What led you to where you are today?
- What is CHA’s challenge?
- How do you see the recent struggles for Health care reform?
- What does it mean to be a Daughter of Charity?
- What drives you as a leader in the fight for universal Health care?
“Our nation has the genius to develop an exceptional Health care system. We need common sense and commitment. We need to find the best and reasonable accommodations or exemptions that will truly serve our nation’s people. Even in our differences, we need to continue to dialogue together. I have studied the tensions that preceded the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965; in many ways, they almost seem worse than what we’re facing today. However, we have come through that and no one can think of not having Medicare as part of our protection of the senior citizens of this country. We need to remember that and keep working with courage and vision today for the good of everyone in this nation.
A nation is greater when it cares for all its people, not just the top five percent. Hubert Humphrey said it wisely and well: we will be judged by how we treat the most vulnerable, that is the youngest and the oldest.”
The full interview “A Conversation With Sister Carol Keehan About Health Care Challenges“
Tags: Carol Keehan, Catholic Health Association, CHA, Daughters of Charity
