By: Sister Melanie DiPietro, S.C. and Professor Alison
Sulentic
SSM Health Care is a large multi-state Catholic health care
system that has integrated Catholic social thought principles in
the day-to-day operations since its inception. As the first
health care organization in the United States to receive the
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for excellence in overall
performance, SSMHC is a role model for the successful delivery of
health care services. This paper provides a case study of a health
care system that created internal policies and practices grounded
in Catholic social thought and validated by successful
participation in a highly competitive and stressful economic
market.