Health care group calls itself Covenant Health

WESTERN CATHOLIC REPORTER

Edmonton – Alberta’s new province-wide Catholic health care consortium will be known as Covenant Health.

The organization, which had been known temporarily as Catholic Health of Alberta, made the announcement in a Nov. 27 web posting.

Covenant Health brings together under one administration the province’s 16 Catholic health care facilities.

Located in 11 communities, the facilities range in size from Edmonton’s Grey Nuns Community Hospitals with 323 acute care beds to Our Lady of the Rosary Hospital in Castor, which has 27 beds (five acute care, 20 continuing care).

Altogether, Covenant Health has a team of more than 12,500 staff, physicians and volunteers at sites in Banff, Bonnyville, Camrose, Castor, Edmonton, Killam, Lethbridge, Mundare, St. Albert, Trochu and Vegreville.

The organization, established in August, said it chose the name, Covenant Health, “to affirm our faith in God’s promises and to express our dedication to carrying on the healing ministry of Jesus.

“Our name speaks of our deep commitment to caring for the whole person and unconditional service to people of all faiths, cultures and circumstances.”

Covenant Health will be headed by president and CEO Patrick Dumelie, who formerly held those positions with Caritas Health Group in the Edmonton area, and board chair John Brennan, former chair of the Caritas board.

The six-member governing board is to be supplemented by community boards for each facility.

The 16 facilities decided to consolidate their governance structures for three reasons:

• “Harness the strength” that already exists in the institutions.
• Enable Catholic health care to better meet the needs of the vulnerable today and in the future.
• Give Catholic health the most effective voice in dealing with its partners, including the provincial government.

The structure and ownership of Catholic health care facilities in Alberta has evolved in recent decades as the religious orders that established the facilities have withdrawn.

The Alberta bishops and the now lay-led facilities have sought to maintain a clear Catholic presence in health care as the sisters withdrew their involvement.

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