Trinity Health Annual Report 2008

The “New Moms” program provides respite time, meals,
advocacy and health education. As a faith community
nurse, Boeckman receives the tools and training from Holy
Cross Hospital that she needs to educate, empower and
equip members of her church congregation in the pursuit
of health, healing and wholeness.
During the first visit, Boeckman delivers a homemade
meal from the church, provides health education
and information on community resources, and gives
the mother a bit of relief. She also advises them
on breastfeeding, how to diaper a baby and what to
expect in the first few months.
Becky Boeckman is surrounded by four of the 13 newborns
at First United Methodist in Laurel, Md.
As the wife of a former Navy seaman, Boeckman said
she knows the value of a faith-based support system
to raise children. “The church becomes your life.”
CARING FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE
Blessed by the generous traditions of our founding Sisters, Trinity Health embraces a calling to care for
the poor and underserved, especially women and children.
For generations, the Sisters who came before us have given selflessly and tirelessly to those who are
less fortunate, lack access to adequate health services, or cannot afford to pay for care. In carrying
forward their healing ministry, Trinity Health responds in creative and collaborative ways to provide an
array of health services in each of the communities where we minister.
Trinity Health creates services that meet the specific needs of people where they need it most. In
situations where people are poor or underserved, we extend free and discounted services – even
if it means going door-to-door.
Valuable Voices for Advocacy
Trinity Health’s commitment to advocacy grew from the conviction that our faith-based Mission calls us
not only to serve others, but also to transform systems of care. As a sustainable healing ministry, we
speak out on behalf of those in need while seeking legislation that will improve the health and well-being
of patients. Across the enterprise, Trinity Health worked to leverage local organizational and clinical
experiences to help lead the way toward national improvements in care for the underserved.
Many of our people have spent considerable time this year assisting with national-level projects aimed
at the poor and uninsured population, as well as more general community benefit areas.
Advocacy Action Day: Advocacy Action Day was held in March 2008 and was again an enormously
successful event, gathering more than 100 leaders from across Trinity Health in Washington, D.C.,
to speak to members of Congress. A key meeting during the two-day event was held with Sen. Ron
Wyden (D-Oregon) and his staff about the Healthy Americans Act, a groundbreaking, bipartisan proposal
to provide affordable, high quality, private health coverage for every American, regardless of where
Wrapped in Prayer
The Mercy Auxiliary in Clinton, Iowa, is well known for going
above and beyond the call of volunteer duty. Their latest project
is knitting and handing out shawls to hospice, long-term care,
dialysis and other acutely ill patients. Volunteer knitters say
prayers while they stitch, and a hospital chaplain blesses the
completed wraps. Every shawl includes a poem. The wraps are
made to keep patients warm, give them strength and hope, and
let them know that God is near.
Auxiliary President Karen Burns, a retired nurse, recalled the
response of a man with terminal cancer upon receiving his
prayer shawl. “When he put it on, he said he felt like God’s
arms were wrapped around him,” she said. “This has been a
really powerful thing, and our volunteers have really embraced
it. As they always do, they have jumped right in and are living
the Mission.”
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