Join the Mission-Margin Discussion.

Abstract

Recently I traveled with Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, CHA’s president and chief executive officer, to St. Francis de Sales Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where we met with the three priests who have responsibility for management and direction of the hospital. In the course of our conversation, they voiced their struggles in managing the hospital’s mission of being the hospital for the poorest of Port-au-Prince’s population while attempting to maintain any semblance of a financial margin. It was fascinating to listen to their deliberations — the challenges and possibilities of seeking sustainability — in terms of attracting those who can pay while always serving those who are unable to do so.