Mission Week Keynotes

The 2023 Mission Week theme focused on the fourth Universal Apostolic Preference — Caring for Our Common Home. These preferences serve as points of reference guiding the work of the Jesuits and lay colleagues worldwide through 2029.

The keynote address, “Do No Harm: Climate Change, Healthcare and Net Zero Emissions,” moderated by Scott Shipman, MD, MPH, executive director of Creighton’s new Institute for Population Health and the CyncHealth Endowed Chair for Population Health, invited exploration of the mission-centered call to care for our common home through focused considerations of the healthcare industry’s role in addressing the realities of climate change.

Jesse Bell, PhD, Claire M. Hubbard Professor of Water, Climate and Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, discussed the health impacts of climate change, emphasizing the opportunity for healthcare to mitigate these effects through institutional net-zero commitments.

Shelly Schlenker, executive vice president and chief advocacy officer of CommonSpirit Health, CHI’s parent company, who has made an industry-leading commitment to net-zero emissions by 2040, discussed the mission-based and financial case for healthcare providers to make net-zero commitments.

Scott Shipman

Archibald, D., Grant, R., Tuot, D. S., Liddy, C., Sewell, J. L.,Price, D. W.Grad, R., Shipman, S. A., Campbell, C., Guglani, S., Wood, T. J., Keely, E. (2023). Development of eConsult reflective learning tools for healthcare providers: a pragmatic mixed methods approach. BMC Primary Care, 24(1). DOI: 10.1186/s12875-022-01948-9

Fuentes-Afflick, E.,  Shipman, S. A., Dreyer, B.,. Perrin, J. M., Freed, G. L. (2023). Engaging pediatricians to address workforce diversity. Pediatric Research, 93, 1458–1459. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-022-02355-7

King, S. L., Rodriguez, J. A., Shipman, S. A. (2024) Opportunities and risks for telehealth in advancing health equity in academic medicine. Academic Medicine ():10.1097/ACM.0000000000005767. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000005767

Jesse Bell

Berman, J. D., Abadi, A. M., & Bell, J. E. (2024). Existing challenges and opportunities for advancing drought and health research. Current Environmental Health Reports, 11(2), 255–265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-024-00440-z

Gwon, Y., Ji, Y., Abadi, A. M., Rau, A., Berman, J. D., Leeper, R. D., Rennie, J., Nagaya, R., & Bell, J. E. (2024). The effect of heterogeneous severe drought on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the Northern Rockies and Plains of the United States. The Science of the Total Environment, 912, 169033–169033. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169033

Jalalzadeh Fard, B., Puvvula, J., Smith, K., Hayes, M., Lookadoo, R., Mahmood, R., Medcalf, S., Rowe, C., Durr, M., & Bell, J. E. (2024). Health vulnerability mapping for drought: a case study in a predominantly rural, agricultural state. Environmental Research, Health, 2(4), 45001-. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ad689a

Shelly Schlenker

Dignity Health. (2014, December 3) Dignity Health to limit investments in thermal coal energy [Press release]. https://www.dignityhealth.org/about-us/press-center/press-releases/dignity-health-to-limit-investments-in-thermal-coal-energy

Hahn, V. H. (2024, March). CommonSpirit Health leaders lead push toward sustainability focus in health care. Catholic Health World. https://www.chausa.org/publications/catholic-health-world/archive/article/march-2024/commonspirit-health-leaders-lead-push-toward-sustainability-focus-in-health-care

Southwick, R. (2022, August 15). Hospitals and sustainability: CommonSpirit Health’s Shelly Schlenker says ‘it’s about your patients.' Chief Healthcare Executive. https://www.chiefhealthcareexecutive.com/view/hospitals-and-sustainability-commonspirit-health-s-shelly-schlenker-says-it-s-about-your-patients-