catholic guardian angel

St. John Medical Center's spiritual mission key to its health care

WESTLAKE, Ohio -- When Cliff Coker became president of St. John Medical Center five years ago, the Westlake hospital’s reputation was less than positive.

There had been a revolving door of leadership the previous three years at the hospital once known as St. John West Shore, and patient satisfaction surveys were disappointing.

“The reference in the community was ‘Death Shore, Dump Shore,’” Coker said. “I don’t know that it gets any worse than that.”

Consumers didn’t hesitate in making their displeasure known by seeking health care elsewhere.

“The effort was enormous to begin to change the tide and still continues to be,” said Coker, 64. Whereas before patients noticed low staff morale, now “there’s a camaraderie, there’s a smile, there’s attention to detail.”

Today, the hospital is undergoing a $62 million expansion and makeover to keep up with growing patient demand. In a region full of big health systems undertaking shiny new construction projects, St. John has positioned itself as the smaller community hospital with a Catholic spirituality that emphasizes compassionate patient care.

The hospital is equally owned by the Sisters of Charity Health System and University Hospitals . The two systems jointly managed the hospital from 1999 to 2010. Under a 2010 agreement, Sisters of Charity remains the “religious sponsor” but UH became the hospital’s sole operating manager.

The revised partnership seems to be working.

The nonprofit hospital’s income from operations rose to $7.4 million last year — an amount that was an unexpected $4.2 million above budget at a time when the lagging local economy forced many of the region’s hospitals to cope with serving an increasing number of uninsured patients. So far this year, the hospital’s income from operations is more than half a million dollars ahead of management’s projected budget.

The Catholic Defender: Guardian Angels

Just Passing Through A poncho-draped sentry at the Fort Hood East Gate waved me through with an OD flashlight. The wipers on my red ’65 Mustang were working overtime as I peered through the night at my new surroundings. Assigned to 1/9 Cav Hq/Hq Co 1CavDiv, I was told to take the main road to the end. Half a mile down this road I came upon two hitchhikers, a common sight in 1973. The pair of lean soggy soldiers slipped into the small back seat. “Where to?” I asked. I thought, maybe I picked these guys up so I could tell them about Jesus. I did a lot of that in those days, living with the Jesus People in Southern California prior to being drafted. I didn’t always feel comfortable about “witnessing” as it was called, but had this compulsion to do so. I think it was guilt. Perhaps I was trying to pay Jesus back for what he had done for me. Or was I trying to sell Jesus? Anyway, it was awkward and scary. Oh well, here goes… The purpose of Deeper Truth is to provide a defense for the one fully true church of Christ. It is not designed to attack or hurt others.

We will speak boldly. We will not whitewash the truth.

Yes, we do believe that there is only 1 truth and the only place on earth where it can be found whole, complete, and uncorrupted is the Roman Catholic Church. Yes, we do feel that we can prove that case.

We can prove it historically, supernaturally, logically, practically and Biblically. And we will, make no mistake about that.

We believe that science and observation and reason are sufficient proofs of the existence of God. We also believe that reason and logic alone are sufficient causes for any human being to suspect that that God would have revealed Himself to us in some fashion. Further, we believe that He has and the historical, practical and supernatural proofs are beyond overwhelming that God has revealed, and continues to reveal, His will to us exclusively through the Roman Catholic Church, which He founded when He lived among us in the historical person of Jesus Christ.

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