Spring 2024
Recently, five Cabrini Nursing Home Leadership staff successfully completed an eight-week formation course facilitated by the Catholic Health Association. The course was titled:
“Foundations of Catholic Health Care Leadership.”
The course was open to leaders in health care facilities throughout the United States. Cabrini Nursing Home has been participating in these courses over many years. We were delighted to have five Department Head Leaders participate in this year’s formation course from different areas of our Cabrini facility as follows:
• Kristen McCauley; Director of Therapeutic Recreation
• Mark Pohar; Director of Nursing
• Enrique Vargas; Director of Food Services
• Dr. Soodabeh Zolfaghari; Medical Director
• Cassidy Barnes; Director of Information Technology
Topics covered included:
• Leadership in Catholic Health Care
• Spirituality and Reflection
• Catholic Social Tradition
• Community Benefit; Catholic Social Tradition in Action
• Global Health
• Ethics and the Catholic Moral Tradition
• Culture and Identity
• Models of the Church
• Integration, Discernment and Human Flourishing
Our participants listened attentively and participated enthusiastically during each of these sessions. The subject matter was engaging, relevant and allowed each participant, no matter their background, experience or faith tradition the opportunity to learn and contribute in meaningful ways. Each session incorporated important opportunities for small group discussions. Cabrini leaders participated in our own small group, facilitated by Fr. Ron Galt from Mission Integration and Pastoral Care. These conversations proved to be very rich and meaningful. It was the hope and intention at the start of the course, to make clear to our participants that they would share their learnings and engagement with their teams and staff in their respective departments and areas of responsibility. The following contributions are from two of our leaders detailing just a few highlights of the learning:
“Understanding the essence of the human spirit is extremely important in the healthcare environment. Failing to acknowledge the unique needs of everyone may inadvertently harm their spirit. It is vital for healthcare workers to recognize and respect the diverse requirements of each person, as these needs play a significant role in shaping their spirit. The spirit, intrinsic to one’s identity, serves as a compass for happiness and well-being.” ~ Kristen McCauley, Director of Therapeutic Recreation
“This training matured me professionally and personally on so many levels. It allowed me to look around my everyday surroundings and ask myself; ‘How can I improve my everyday responsibilities and leadership of my staff?’ That motivated me and sparked a flame within me to motivate my staff as well. So, I decided to do a social experiment with my staff to see how I could motivate them. I told them about this course and mentioned a quote I saw that was meaningful to me; ‘Take a step to change a life.’
I asked them what they can do today to change a life at Cabrini. I gave them a task to come back and share how at the end of their shift, what they had done to change a life. To my surprise, they all came back with beautiful examples, from helping a resident to the elevator, to making sure that a resident was happy with their meal. Every day since, I have had staff coming to me to share their stories and to share with department colleagues to make sure our efforts are team centered in our seeking to change the life of a resident, visitor, volunteer or family member for the better.” ~ Enrique Vargas; Director of Food Services
It has been a joy to watch and encourage our department leaders to approach this learning opportunity with an open heart and a Mission and Values centered spirit. We look forward to more of our Cabrini leaders participating in the years to come.