Catching Fire From Dominic's Vision
Remaining Faithful to the Mission
Sr. Colleen Settles (right) works with hospital leaders
on a house-building
project in Tijuana, Mexico.
As people of Providence, we reveal God’s love for all, especially the poor and vulnerable, through our compassionate service.”
Mission of Providence Health and Services
How does a Catholic health system remain faithful to the mission of the founding Sisters when those Sisters are no longer present? That is my ministry as a Sinsinawa Dominican. The new leaders of Catholic healthcare today are mostly lay men and women from many faith traditions. These highly skilled leaders are called to run multi-million dollar organizations AS WELL AS lead an important MINISTRY of the Catholic Church. My preaching and teaching comes in the form of ministry leadership formation for these leaders and happens often around the administrative conference tables. It is the role of the chief financial officer to raise the financial issues, just as it is my role to make sure the mission and values are front and center in any of our decisions and strategic planning. Keeping the stories of the founding Sisters alive and powerful in our culture is an important part of their formation. With coaching, each member of the administrative team leads a “theological reflection” using his/her own faith’s sacred stories and the history of the Sisters. They are then able to use these stories to guide their leadership of the ministry in today’s challenging times. By taking leaders to Tijuana, Mexico, on a yearly house-building “plunge” directly interfacing with the poor, they are challenged to move out of their comfort zones and see with new eyes the living conditions that are experienced by many of our patients.
Along with the ministry formation of our leadership team, I am also responsible for assuring we meet the needs of the community through our outreach programs (including Tattoo Removal, Parish Nursing, Latino Health Promoters, Partners for Healthy Kids, and Van and Senior programs). Spiritual Care and Ethics departments also are in my area of responsibility. All of this is to help our 9,000-plus employees know that THEY have the mission of “revealing God’s love for all through their compassionate service.” What a vast territory for preaching!
Sister Colleen Settles, OP Providence Health and Services Southern California