Selected Podcast
A Conversation with Jerry Mansfield, Chief Nursing Officer, Mount Carmel Health System
Jerry Mansfield, Chief Nursing Officer at Mount Carmel Health System, leads a reflective discussion on how COVID-19 has impacted his ministry.
Featuring:
Jerry Mansfield, PhD, RN, NEA-BC
Jerry Mansfield, PhD, RN, NEA-BC is Chief Nursing Officer, Mount Carmel Health System. Transcription:
DR Sean Lansing: Welcome to Trinity Health's brand new podcast, Living Our Values, brought to you by your colleagues for Mission Integration. Our nationwide ministry spans the continuum of care in order to be people's most trusted partner in health throughout their life. Through all the ways we provide care, we are bound together by the legacy of our founders. This legacy informs who we are, how we provide care and is rooted in our core values of reverence, commitment to those who are poor, safety, justice, stewardship and integrity. In this podcast, we will hear stories from colleagues across Trinity Health, about the care we provide, the legacy we steward and the core values we seek to embody.
In this, our first season, we will hear stories from leaders across the system, who through the challenges brought on by the pandemic and civil unrest, found hope in the way we live our values.
Hello. My name is Dr. Sean Lansing and I serve Trinity Health as the Mission Leader for Mount Carmel Health System. On our podcast today is Dr. Jerry Mansfield, Chief Nursing Officer for Mount Carmel Health System and an Associate Dean for Mount Carmel College of Nursing. Jerry, welcome to the podcast.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: It's great to be here, Sean. Thanks for asking me.
DR Sean Lansing: Absolutely. Before we dive in, could you share with our listeners a little of your professional journey? What brought you to Mount Carmel Health System as the Chief Nursing Officer?
Dr Jerry Mansfield: Sure. Been in nursing for over 35 years. Initial education was at St. Vincent Hospital School of Nursing in Toledo, Ohio, where I got a diploma. My first job in healthcare was in Columbus, Ohio at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Worked there for over 20 years on and off in different capacities and then spent another 11-1/2 years at Ohio Health. So most of my professional career was here in central Ohio, but I was recruited to start as a new Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Patient Experience officer at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. I spent three and a half years down there, really enjoyed it. But heard about a new opportunity here back at Mount Carmel as they were reenvisioning chief nurse for the health system. And based on my experience in the community and what I knew some of the opportunities were here from Mount Carmel, took the chance to come back, started January of 2020. And it's been quite a ride ever since, especially for the past 18 months and you know why as well.
DR Sean Lansing: Indeed, I do. And in fact, that's what we're going to talk a little bit about today. But I know you often talk about in meetings and in the community about how important it has been to be at Mount Carmel, especially considering all of the experience you have in Ohio. And you talk about our core values as being one of the reasons that really makes a difference for working here at Mount Carmel. I really appreciate that that's part of your story and I appreciate how important that is to you, but also how hard you work to help us all embody those values.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: Well, I appreciate that too, Sean. And, really, it was something that I was always curious about. So there are four major health systems here in Columbus. I named the two. There's also Nationwide Children's. And then Mount Carmel always seem to have some secret sauce. I could never quite put my arms around it. And in fact, the church that my wife and I attended, every parishioner routinely regarded Mount Carmel as their preferred source of healthcare. And it always bothered me, because of the other two systems I worked in, but they would get all glassy-eyed and just talk about Mount Carmel. So I knew that there was something here and perhaps it was the faith-based mission. I wasn't sure. But in coming back to Central Ohio, I have found that that's exactly what it is.
And, in addition to the faith-based orientation with Catholic sensibilities and understanding what that really means in serving others, it's really lived by the employees. And one thing that strikes me over and over and reinforced recently with a pulse survey from our registered nurses, it's one of the reasons why they work at Mount Carmel, the mission, vision, and values of the organization, as well as the commitment to the underserved. And then the other is that's one of the reasons they would leave if we walked away from that mission, vision, values. So it's deeply felt and understood by staff and I think that's what makes it different in this community.
DR Sean Lansing: Yeah, I agree. And what's really interesting about that is Trinity-wide, we hear that all over the ministries across the states that Trinity Health exists. And is that how important the mission is for people's sense of belonging, connection. And that's really, really powerful stuff, and a real mandate for all of us as leaders to kind of keep that going and make sure that we maintain that legacy.
So you mentioned that you started in January and that was right at the beginning of our pandemic preparations. And since then, it's been up until very recently, non-stop pandemic response. And not only that, but we've also had all of this incredible civil unrest during this same period of time. Can you talk about since you've been here and kind of coming within that context a little bit about your experience? Maybe a story or two that really captures the sense of people really connecting to our core values and who we are.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: Two things come to mind right away. The first is coming back to Mount Carmel, January 27th, 2020, we had our first COVID case in early March. And we knew it was coming, we had heard about it. But you know, I've been a nurse for a long time and these kinds of things sort of come and go. And we knew that our preparations were pretty solid. But once we had our first case and then we started having incident command calls with Trinity Health, our corporate office, it was clear in what we were fortunate to know what was happening basically across the country.
So being part of Trinity, we heard loud and clear from our colleagues in over 22 states what they were experiencing. So that really helped us discern and ramp up our potential response to what we knew was coming based on others' experiences. So that was a true benefit. So when I would talk with staff about, you know, the preparations and why we were talking about conserving personal protective equipment and making decisions about staffing, I could reinforce what I was hearing from my colleagues.
Two things that though I think stand out for me in this pandemic year and a half, I will say, is every meeting still in this organization has started with a reflection. And I'll tell you, Sean, again, being in healthcare for over 35 years, that brief breath and pause before every meeting and conversation I think was more of a help than I ever realized.
And found that without that, I would attend WebEx's and meetings with individuals across the United States non-affiliated with Trinity and people had to talk before any business could be done. It's just everybody was going through so much, they just had to begin every meeting with how they were feeling, what was going on in their families and their workplaces. So it took a long time in those situations to get to the business at hand.
However, my perception is that because we would start every meeting with a reflection during the pandemic, it gave people a moment just to pause and breathe, which allowed us then to get to the work. And so I think that was something that I learned to truly appreciate. And it was everyone, everybody from our CEO to frontline staff. So it reinforced the importance of centering ourselves before we enter into some really hard conversations.
And then the other thing that stands out to me as I'm coming back to Mount Carmel, there were a lot of struggles at that time. It was a new leadership team that continued to transition for the next three to five months. I find it interesting now to look back. I'm now the second most tenured person in our corporate office. So it was a quick start and a quick run and a lot of new people coming in. But, during that time, we had a lot of nursing vacancies and turnover. We were reacting to instances that happened in the community, of which Mount Carmel was involved, that we were trying to work our way through. So we were hurting at the time and losing money.
And as soon as the Incident Command Center started in March, we were asked to participate in a meeting in the Greater Columbus Convention Center to consider working with other health systems to set up a 1000-bed field hospital in anticipation of COVID of what was coming. And I will never forget the day they were deciding who should go and represent Mount Carmel and folks turned to me based on my past history here of working for over 30 years, those people probably know you. And I remember our CEO at the time said, "Well, we're not going to be able to do this right based on everything we've got going on." So I went down to the convention center and met with leaders from Central Ohio Trauma Systems, Ohio Health, Ohio State and, of course, Mount Carmel Health System. And in those conversations, it was clear to me that the community could not respond, the healthcare community, if we weren't participant.
So I came back from that set of meetings and told our CEO, I said, "I know you told me we can't, but we have to." And sure enough, within about a four to six-week period, we caught up quite quickly to our compatriots, in both at Ohio State and Ohio Health. And we were going to be able to manage 300 beds in that 1000-bed facility. The good news is, is we never had to use it. but we were prepared. And I think that was a statement in the community that Mount Carmel is an essential part of the healthcare delivery systems in this community. And we are front and center with trying to respond to something that none of us expected.
DR Sean Lansing: Yeah, that's a powerful story. And I know that sometimes, you know, we at Mount Carmel, locally being there's so many health systems feel like we're kind of jockeying for position. You're trying to figure out where you stand in the community. And it's times like this we realize that it's not about where you stand. It's about we're all standing here and we need each other. It really kind of speaks to that sense of solidarity and how are we going to work together to solve this problem for the community.
One more question around this last 18 months. Is there a story or moment that is something that you think to yourself, "I'm going to carry this in my heart til my last days." Is there anything that really kind of stays with you?
Dr Jerry Mansfield: You know, Sean, there are so many stories. But I think about it and I would like to gather them all up into a statement about the staff. So our colleagues, our nurses, our physicians, our frontline providers, really everyone in the health system, we saw such a focus of commitment to serve others that was just extraordinary. And the impact while they were working, there was so much uncertainty about the virus, how it spread, again, shortages of personal protective equipment, constantly changing information from the Centers for Disease Control, I mean, we were all learning and watching together, yet these people came back every single day to care for the patients that we were seeing.
And in the last 18 months, there have been four separate surges of inflow of acute care patients that we've had to deal with, peaking last year, December, 2020, when we had over 216 hospitalized patients with COVID and about a quarter of them were in our intensive care units. So think about that level of service and commitment and then those people go home. And within their families and their social structures, it was all upended between the social unrest you mentioned, schools closed, shortages of supplies in grocery stores, people out of work, and then they came back and they did it again. It's an extraordinary story of service and I will carry that with me for as long as I live.
When people come together, to work together under a single focus and mission, to fight something that was very threatening and concerning, it's an extraordinary personal effort. I hope we never go back to the way it was in healthcare. It's clear that the lack of investment in public health has shown its ugly head today. And we need to take this forward and do something much different, so in the future, our children experience something different.
DR Sean Lansing: So, speaking of our children in the future and really kind of that focus on public health, what are the challenges that you think we face as we think about the future? And more importantly, what are your hopes for the future? And then maybe what are some of your fears for the future?
Dr Jerry Mansfield: One of the challenges I think we face as we move forward is the lack of attention and need for a much greater public health infrastructure. Thankfully, Trinity has identified this as one of our top reasons to get involved in advocacy and the national voice in promoting a public health infrastructure investment in this country.
Now, we clearly know that countries who even spend less in terms of their healthcare dollar have better health outcomes because the investment is not made in treating illness, it's made in supporting the infrastructure of communities with jobs, water, food, education. The social infrastructure to support health and wellbeing is actually what leads to long-term savings in healthcare overall. So underdeveloped countries spend way less on healthcare than we do per gross domestic product, yet their health outcomes are much, much better.
This is a turning point for us that perhaps some diversion of what we spend on the acute side could be redirected back to our local communities and create environments where people can stay healthy in their community and out of the hospital. That won't happen overnight. It's going to take years and years and years for us to see that change. But if we don't do that now based on what we've just experienced this past year, and it includes the social unrest, the attack on the capitol, racism and structural racism in our communities, the lack of appreciation of the importance for diversity and equity in health and wellbeing, we will miss this opportunity. And then future generations will look back on our time and judge whether we did things right or wrong.
So I think the biggest challenge is do we take this opportunity to learn what we've experienced and make it better for the future and realize that the future may not reveal itself until many of us are no longer on this planet, but we do it for our families and our children.
DR Sean Lansing: The way you're describing this opportunity and really this challenge, Catholic healthcare is poised to be an important catalyst for that kind of change just out of the mirror of framework with which we look at the world. The fact that our whole ministries are built around the idea that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore we have to act with reverence towards every life, that compels us to think about the whole person, thinking about these other areas and how do we manage our health differently, to think and take very seriously this idea that any form of marginalization and oppression is something that we need to stand against because it's against our core values. It's against the spirit of the gospel with which we work in. And so I really appreciate that clarion call for what we need to do and how we really not only have a responsibility as a healthcare system, but as a Catholic healthcare system, these are what our values call us to do.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: I couldn't agree more, Sean. You know when I reflect on our values, and we have the opportunity to do that at Trinity, I've worked in organizations a many on my career and values were always something people referred to, but they usually were words on a slide, right? Or they're mentioned in some plaque or some wall. But here, they really feel more alive. And, you know, they referenced that sacredness and dignity of every person, that resonates just based on what you've said and what I've been talking about, regarding the commitment to those who are poor, especially the most vulnerable,
I mean, here, we saw what happened when certain communities and certain populations were very reluctant to get the vaccine were more effected by the COVID-19 virus based on their current present health problems, that have a higher prevalence in certain groups, such as African-Americans and Hispanics and then, the homeless population. I don't know who else. I don't think anybody else was out there except public health and Mount Carmel addressing the needs of the homeless and communities when, with everything that they used to rely on from a public health perspective, or even public access, food and libraries, and ways to find out information, all those things were closed. So what a potential for isolation, but to watch our street medicine people go into those communities and those neighborhoods and deliver food and healthcare at a time when everybody else was hunkered down in their homes, it's an extraordinary picture of Christ's work in real time,
DR Sean Lansing: Absolutely. Just the concrete, palpable displays of the love that God has for all of God's people. And we get to do that everyday, not just in a pandemic, right? We get to do that every day. And that's our challenge in this post-pandemic time is what I'm hearing you say is how do we do that in new ways in light of what we learned about the things we need to change and while maintaining that deep, profound commitment to our core values every single time we walk in the door, it's powerful stuff.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: I couldn't agree more.
DR Sean Lansing: Well, our time it was coming to an end, Jerry. I just really appreciate the opportunity to spend this time with you to talk about our core values, especially to kind of talk about them, like you said, in a way that words on a paper or words on a poster are just that. They become our core values when they animate, not just what we do, but how we do it.
And so I appreciate the time that we spent together, just kind of exploring that and talking about some of the real ways we do it. And more importantly, I appreciate your challenge to us as a Catholic healthcare system, but us as an American community to really think deeply about how we move forward in light of everything we've learned about what we need to do.
So thank you so much for your time today.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: You are so welcome. And I certainly appreciate the opportunity. Working with you and the mission team throughout this past 18 months has been a blessing for me. So thanks, Sean.
DR Sean Lansing: You're very welcome. I look forward to our continued work together. Well, that's our time for today. I'm your host, Sean Lansing. Until next time, be well.
Thank you for listening. And we hope you are inspired by the stories that remind us of who we are, the legacy we steward and the core values we seek to embody. May we always work to serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a transforming and healing presence within our communities.
DR Sean Lansing: Welcome to Trinity Health's brand new podcast, Living Our Values, brought to you by your colleagues for Mission Integration. Our nationwide ministry spans the continuum of care in order to be people's most trusted partner in health throughout their life. Through all the ways we provide care, we are bound together by the legacy of our founders. This legacy informs who we are, how we provide care and is rooted in our core values of reverence, commitment to those who are poor, safety, justice, stewardship and integrity. In this podcast, we will hear stories from colleagues across Trinity Health, about the care we provide, the legacy we steward and the core values we seek to embody.
In this, our first season, we will hear stories from leaders across the system, who through the challenges brought on by the pandemic and civil unrest, found hope in the way we live our values.
Hello. My name is Dr. Sean Lansing and I serve Trinity Health as the Mission Leader for Mount Carmel Health System. On our podcast today is Dr. Jerry Mansfield, Chief Nursing Officer for Mount Carmel Health System and an Associate Dean for Mount Carmel College of Nursing. Jerry, welcome to the podcast.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: It's great to be here, Sean. Thanks for asking me.
DR Sean Lansing: Absolutely. Before we dive in, could you share with our listeners a little of your professional journey? What brought you to Mount Carmel Health System as the Chief Nursing Officer?
Dr Jerry Mansfield: Sure. Been in nursing for over 35 years. Initial education was at St. Vincent Hospital School of Nursing in Toledo, Ohio, where I got a diploma. My first job in healthcare was in Columbus, Ohio at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Worked there for over 20 years on and off in different capacities and then spent another 11-1/2 years at Ohio Health. So most of my professional career was here in central Ohio, but I was recruited to start as a new Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Patient Experience officer at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. I spent three and a half years down there, really enjoyed it. But heard about a new opportunity here back at Mount Carmel as they were reenvisioning chief nurse for the health system. And based on my experience in the community and what I knew some of the opportunities were here from Mount Carmel, took the chance to come back, started January of 2020. And it's been quite a ride ever since, especially for the past 18 months and you know why as well.
DR Sean Lansing: Indeed, I do. And in fact, that's what we're going to talk a little bit about today. But I know you often talk about in meetings and in the community about how important it has been to be at Mount Carmel, especially considering all of the experience you have in Ohio. And you talk about our core values as being one of the reasons that really makes a difference for working here at Mount Carmel. I really appreciate that that's part of your story and I appreciate how important that is to you, but also how hard you work to help us all embody those values.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: Well, I appreciate that too, Sean. And, really, it was something that I was always curious about. So there are four major health systems here in Columbus. I named the two. There's also Nationwide Children's. And then Mount Carmel always seem to have some secret sauce. I could never quite put my arms around it. And in fact, the church that my wife and I attended, every parishioner routinely regarded Mount Carmel as their preferred source of healthcare. And it always bothered me, because of the other two systems I worked in, but they would get all glassy-eyed and just talk about Mount Carmel. So I knew that there was something here and perhaps it was the faith-based mission. I wasn't sure. But in coming back to Central Ohio, I have found that that's exactly what it is.
And, in addition to the faith-based orientation with Catholic sensibilities and understanding what that really means in serving others, it's really lived by the employees. And one thing that strikes me over and over and reinforced recently with a pulse survey from our registered nurses, it's one of the reasons why they work at Mount Carmel, the mission, vision, and values of the organization, as well as the commitment to the underserved. And then the other is that's one of the reasons they would leave if we walked away from that mission, vision, values. So it's deeply felt and understood by staff and I think that's what makes it different in this community.
DR Sean Lansing: Yeah, I agree. And what's really interesting about that is Trinity-wide, we hear that all over the ministries across the states that Trinity Health exists. And is that how important the mission is for people's sense of belonging, connection. And that's really, really powerful stuff, and a real mandate for all of us as leaders to kind of keep that going and make sure that we maintain that legacy.
So you mentioned that you started in January and that was right at the beginning of our pandemic preparations. And since then, it's been up until very recently, non-stop pandemic response. And not only that, but we've also had all of this incredible civil unrest during this same period of time. Can you talk about since you've been here and kind of coming within that context a little bit about your experience? Maybe a story or two that really captures the sense of people really connecting to our core values and who we are.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: Two things come to mind right away. The first is coming back to Mount Carmel, January 27th, 2020, we had our first COVID case in early March. And we knew it was coming, we had heard about it. But you know, I've been a nurse for a long time and these kinds of things sort of come and go. And we knew that our preparations were pretty solid. But once we had our first case and then we started having incident command calls with Trinity Health, our corporate office, it was clear in what we were fortunate to know what was happening basically across the country.
So being part of Trinity, we heard loud and clear from our colleagues in over 22 states what they were experiencing. So that really helped us discern and ramp up our potential response to what we knew was coming based on others' experiences. So that was a true benefit. So when I would talk with staff about, you know, the preparations and why we were talking about conserving personal protective equipment and making decisions about staffing, I could reinforce what I was hearing from my colleagues.
Two things that though I think stand out for me in this pandemic year and a half, I will say, is every meeting still in this organization has started with a reflection. And I'll tell you, Sean, again, being in healthcare for over 35 years, that brief breath and pause before every meeting and conversation I think was more of a help than I ever realized.
And found that without that, I would attend WebEx's and meetings with individuals across the United States non-affiliated with Trinity and people had to talk before any business could be done. It's just everybody was going through so much, they just had to begin every meeting with how they were feeling, what was going on in their families and their workplaces. So it took a long time in those situations to get to the business at hand.
However, my perception is that because we would start every meeting with a reflection during the pandemic, it gave people a moment just to pause and breathe, which allowed us then to get to the work. And so I think that was something that I learned to truly appreciate. And it was everyone, everybody from our CEO to frontline staff. So it reinforced the importance of centering ourselves before we enter into some really hard conversations.
And then the other thing that stands out to me as I'm coming back to Mount Carmel, there were a lot of struggles at that time. It was a new leadership team that continued to transition for the next three to five months. I find it interesting now to look back. I'm now the second most tenured person in our corporate office. So it was a quick start and a quick run and a lot of new people coming in. But, during that time, we had a lot of nursing vacancies and turnover. We were reacting to instances that happened in the community, of which Mount Carmel was involved, that we were trying to work our way through. So we were hurting at the time and losing money.
And as soon as the Incident Command Center started in March, we were asked to participate in a meeting in the Greater Columbus Convention Center to consider working with other health systems to set up a 1000-bed field hospital in anticipation of COVID of what was coming. And I will never forget the day they were deciding who should go and represent Mount Carmel and folks turned to me based on my past history here of working for over 30 years, those people probably know you. And I remember our CEO at the time said, "Well, we're not going to be able to do this right based on everything we've got going on." So I went down to the convention center and met with leaders from Central Ohio Trauma Systems, Ohio Health, Ohio State and, of course, Mount Carmel Health System. And in those conversations, it was clear to me that the community could not respond, the healthcare community, if we weren't participant.
So I came back from that set of meetings and told our CEO, I said, "I know you told me we can't, but we have to." And sure enough, within about a four to six-week period, we caught up quite quickly to our compatriots, in both at Ohio State and Ohio Health. And we were going to be able to manage 300 beds in that 1000-bed facility. The good news is, is we never had to use it. but we were prepared. And I think that was a statement in the community that Mount Carmel is an essential part of the healthcare delivery systems in this community. And we are front and center with trying to respond to something that none of us expected.
DR Sean Lansing: Yeah, that's a powerful story. And I know that sometimes, you know, we at Mount Carmel, locally being there's so many health systems feel like we're kind of jockeying for position. You're trying to figure out where you stand in the community. And it's times like this we realize that it's not about where you stand. It's about we're all standing here and we need each other. It really kind of speaks to that sense of solidarity and how are we going to work together to solve this problem for the community.
One more question around this last 18 months. Is there a story or moment that is something that you think to yourself, "I'm going to carry this in my heart til my last days." Is there anything that really kind of stays with you?
Dr Jerry Mansfield: You know, Sean, there are so many stories. But I think about it and I would like to gather them all up into a statement about the staff. So our colleagues, our nurses, our physicians, our frontline providers, really everyone in the health system, we saw such a focus of commitment to serve others that was just extraordinary. And the impact while they were working, there was so much uncertainty about the virus, how it spread, again, shortages of personal protective equipment, constantly changing information from the Centers for Disease Control, I mean, we were all learning and watching together, yet these people came back every single day to care for the patients that we were seeing.
And in the last 18 months, there have been four separate surges of inflow of acute care patients that we've had to deal with, peaking last year, December, 2020, when we had over 216 hospitalized patients with COVID and about a quarter of them were in our intensive care units. So think about that level of service and commitment and then those people go home. And within their families and their social structures, it was all upended between the social unrest you mentioned, schools closed, shortages of supplies in grocery stores, people out of work, and then they came back and they did it again. It's an extraordinary story of service and I will carry that with me for as long as I live.
When people come together, to work together under a single focus and mission, to fight something that was very threatening and concerning, it's an extraordinary personal effort. I hope we never go back to the way it was in healthcare. It's clear that the lack of investment in public health has shown its ugly head today. And we need to take this forward and do something much different, so in the future, our children experience something different.
DR Sean Lansing: So, speaking of our children in the future and really kind of that focus on public health, what are the challenges that you think we face as we think about the future? And more importantly, what are your hopes for the future? And then maybe what are some of your fears for the future?
Dr Jerry Mansfield: One of the challenges I think we face as we move forward is the lack of attention and need for a much greater public health infrastructure. Thankfully, Trinity has identified this as one of our top reasons to get involved in advocacy and the national voice in promoting a public health infrastructure investment in this country.
Now, we clearly know that countries who even spend less in terms of their healthcare dollar have better health outcomes because the investment is not made in treating illness, it's made in supporting the infrastructure of communities with jobs, water, food, education. The social infrastructure to support health and wellbeing is actually what leads to long-term savings in healthcare overall. So underdeveloped countries spend way less on healthcare than we do per gross domestic product, yet their health outcomes are much, much better.
This is a turning point for us that perhaps some diversion of what we spend on the acute side could be redirected back to our local communities and create environments where people can stay healthy in their community and out of the hospital. That won't happen overnight. It's going to take years and years and years for us to see that change. But if we don't do that now based on what we've just experienced this past year, and it includes the social unrest, the attack on the capitol, racism and structural racism in our communities, the lack of appreciation of the importance for diversity and equity in health and wellbeing, we will miss this opportunity. And then future generations will look back on our time and judge whether we did things right or wrong.
So I think the biggest challenge is do we take this opportunity to learn what we've experienced and make it better for the future and realize that the future may not reveal itself until many of us are no longer on this planet, but we do it for our families and our children.
DR Sean Lansing: The way you're describing this opportunity and really this challenge, Catholic healthcare is poised to be an important catalyst for that kind of change just out of the mirror of framework with which we look at the world. The fact that our whole ministries are built around the idea that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore we have to act with reverence towards every life, that compels us to think about the whole person, thinking about these other areas and how do we manage our health differently, to think and take very seriously this idea that any form of marginalization and oppression is something that we need to stand against because it's against our core values. It's against the spirit of the gospel with which we work in. And so I really appreciate that clarion call for what we need to do and how we really not only have a responsibility as a healthcare system, but as a Catholic healthcare system, these are what our values call us to do.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: I couldn't agree more, Sean. You know when I reflect on our values, and we have the opportunity to do that at Trinity, I've worked in organizations a many on my career and values were always something people referred to, but they usually were words on a slide, right? Or they're mentioned in some plaque or some wall. But here, they really feel more alive. And, you know, they referenced that sacredness and dignity of every person, that resonates just based on what you've said and what I've been talking about, regarding the commitment to those who are poor, especially the most vulnerable,
I mean, here, we saw what happened when certain communities and certain populations were very reluctant to get the vaccine were more effected by the COVID-19 virus based on their current present health problems, that have a higher prevalence in certain groups, such as African-Americans and Hispanics and then, the homeless population. I don't know who else. I don't think anybody else was out there except public health and Mount Carmel addressing the needs of the homeless and communities when, with everything that they used to rely on from a public health perspective, or even public access, food and libraries, and ways to find out information, all those things were closed. So what a potential for isolation, but to watch our street medicine people go into those communities and those neighborhoods and deliver food and healthcare at a time when everybody else was hunkered down in their homes, it's an extraordinary picture of Christ's work in real time,
DR Sean Lansing: Absolutely. Just the concrete, palpable displays of the love that God has for all of God's people. And we get to do that everyday, not just in a pandemic, right? We get to do that every day. And that's our challenge in this post-pandemic time is what I'm hearing you say is how do we do that in new ways in light of what we learned about the things we need to change and while maintaining that deep, profound commitment to our core values every single time we walk in the door, it's powerful stuff.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: I couldn't agree more.
DR Sean Lansing: Well, our time it was coming to an end, Jerry. I just really appreciate the opportunity to spend this time with you to talk about our core values, especially to kind of talk about them, like you said, in a way that words on a paper or words on a poster are just that. They become our core values when they animate, not just what we do, but how we do it.
And so I appreciate the time that we spent together, just kind of exploring that and talking about some of the real ways we do it. And more importantly, I appreciate your challenge to us as a Catholic healthcare system, but us as an American community to really think deeply about how we move forward in light of everything we've learned about what we need to do.
So thank you so much for your time today.
Dr Jerry Mansfield: You are so welcome. And I certainly appreciate the opportunity. Working with you and the mission team throughout this past 18 months has been a blessing for me. So thanks, Sean.
DR Sean Lansing: You're very welcome. I look forward to our continued work together. Well, that's our time for today. I'm your host, Sean Lansing. Until next time, be well.
Thank you for listening. And we hope you are inspired by the stories that remind us of who we are, the legacy we steward and the core values we seek to embody. May we always work to serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a transforming and healing presence within our communities.