Catholic health care depends on leaders who can cultivate and inspire organizational cultures that carry on the healing ministry of Jesus. As a Sponsor, we have a responsibility to support our sponsored organizations with the development, review and delivery of programs focused on mission leadership and integration.

The goal of mission programs is to prepare leaders in Catholic health care to further the legacy of their founders by enabling them to explore, discuss and reflect several topics including:

• Their personal call and vocation in Catholic health care.
• What makes Catholic health care distinct, and the obligation of this vocation to serve with compassion and dignity, the vulnerable and those most in need of Catholic social teaching, is our call to social justice and the common good, and how it can be applied to the life and mission of our organizations.
• The history and mission of the Catholic Church in health care and social services, and its unique role in today’s society.
• The significance of Canon Law, Sponsorship in Catholic health care, and the Chain of Mission.
• How to integrate our mission, core values, ethics and vision into our organizations.

The Forming Health Leaders: A Guide is a key resource for the design and delivery of mission leadership learning opportunities. It was created to assist with identifying key learning activities as well as to stimulate discussion of what it means to be a Catholic health care organization in terms of operations, governance, administration and care delivery.