Reference to the “evangelical values to which Catholic social and healthcare institutions must always refer”. Relaunching the role of affiliated non-profit Catholic healthcare «as a fundamental component» of the National Health Service and «solidarity with the doctors and nurses» on strike against the Government’s financial package.
This is what was highlighted, among other things, at Serie AGeneral assembly of Aris, the religious association of socio-healthcare institutes (around 270 structures including hospitals, nursing homes, research centres, residences) held in Rome for the conclusion of the celebrations of the sixtieth anniversary of the foundation. An opportunity to bring ithe private non-profit healthcare movement which has its roots in evangelical values. As they underlined in their introductory speeches the Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See Pietro Parolin, and Don Massimo Angelelli, director of the Pastoral Care for Health of the CEI. Also present at the proceedings were the vice president of the Senate Licia Ronzulli, the honorable Luciano Ciocchetti, vice president of the Social Affairs Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, Nino Cartabellotta, president of the Gimbe Foundation, doctors, healthcare personnel, and the delegates of the regional offices of the ‘Aris.
Words of “encouragement, support and gratitude for the role of Catholic healthcare in our country” came from Cardinal Parolin with particular attention to the socio-pastoral aspect which «every institution that refers to evangelical values is required to always keep this in mind». For the cardinal «the role and presence in our country of the is irreplaceable and fundamental Catholic non-profit healthcare affiliated with the National Health Service». A presence made «with attention, competence, preparation, for the suffering man, with particular concern for the most needy, for the most fragile and needy people who must always be cared for with competence, professionalism, but always in the light of the values of the Gospel”. Parolin also highlighted «the important role that Aris plays also from the point of view of training and solicitation in institutional relationships always animated by a spirit of service and collaboration». Every single operator (doctors, nurses, medical staff at any level) who works in Catholic institutions according to the Cardinal Secretary of State, «in addition to the duty to serve the sick with competence, preparation and passion, he has the obligation to never forget that his professional choice has its roots in the teachings of the Gospel.” Making reference in this regard to the parable of the Good Samaritan: «The men and women of Catholic healthcare are called to have as their role model that Samaritan who stopped to treat the poor wounded traveller. Otherwise they would be completely equal to those travelers who turned the other way, including even religious people of the time, not to mention the bandits who wounded the unfortunate man who was only cared for by the Samaritan. Therefore, be Good Samaritans, never bandits and lazy people who turn the other way. Only in this way will non-profit Catholic healthcare be able to play its role in society with its identity at the service of those in need of care, especially the most needy.”
Words and pastoral indications also made their own by Don Angelelli, who emphasized the importance of “teamwork on the part of the entire Catholic healthcare system”, inviting “all players in the field to unite, to overcome any forms of isolation to make their weight felt in the context of affiliated healthcare non-profit”. With the awareness that – as underlined by the CEI health manager – “only by proceeding together and with a spirit of unity can the affiliated non-profit Catholic healthcare system make its weight felt without forms of subjection towards anyone”. From Don Angelelli also came a strong reminder “of the need for Catholic healthcare to put into practice a real fight against waste, launching good budgets, with attention from both a pharmacological and healthcare point of view”. Before making requests – his suggestion – “it is good for Catholic healthcare to look within itself to identify times, ways and areas that can be improved”. Furthermore, Monsignor Angelelli also reserved words of criticism for the Law on Differentiated Autonomy «largely rejected by the Council with 7 profiles rejected and another 5 placed under observation». A law which «as it was conceived would split Italy into three opposing areas, with the southern regions increasingly poorer, where treatment for a large part of the population would become almost impossible, as is no coincidence – the monsignor recalls – also the CEI he warned in a document dated April 22nd.” «It would be much better – concluded Angelelli – if a law on differentiated solidarity were approved, in the sense that those who are most in need must be helped first». intervening with targeted projects and ad hoc laws in those areas most in crisis. Where, according to the latest statistical data over 4 million poor people “have already given up on treatment due to lack of economic possibilities”.
To express “solidarity” with today’s trade union agitation of the “white coats”, the general director of Aris Mauro Mattiacci, event moderator. «It is appropriate – his words – to express our closeness to the doctors and nurses on strike today. We have always told the unions that we would like to renew the contracts, but in reality it is impossible to do so. It’s not just a question of lack of resources but the real question is understanding where the money ends up.” The recognition of the public role that non-profit affiliated Catholic healthcare is called to play on the basis of the NHS comes from the Honorable Ciocchetti. In talking about the Competition Decree, in the context of which he pointed out that “health must never be considered as a commodity of exchange”, as if it were one of the many commercial products, he also paid great attention to non-profit Catholic healthcare which, understand, it would not be wrong to contrast it with public health. «We do nothing other than take up the law, both law 833 and 502 which – his explanation – speak of a multi-legged national healthcare system: pure public, accredited private and accredited private non-profit. I believe that your association – acknowledges Ciocchetti – carries out absolutely fundamental work, as Minister Schillaci has also underlined several times. This is a concept that absolutely needs to be reiterated also on behalf of the majority. We must therefore work in this direction by overcoming ideologies and building a system that is as balanced as possible, in which the public has strong planning and leadership skills, but what will really count must be the quality of the services we provide to citizens. , regardless of whoever provides them.”
THE The work of the Aris Assembly was introduced by institutional greetings from the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, connected via video, and from the vice president Licia Ronzulli, who in his speech recognized, among other things, “the significant work of Catholic healthcare is characterized by closeness to the sick with socio-health excellence and with the sensitivity typical of Catholic institutions that are bearers of indispensable evangelical human values”. For Nino Cartabellotta, however, beyond the numbers, the resources, the reforms, «it is essential to understand that the NHS must function based on three fundamental pillars, namely public health, private private healthcare and non-affiliated private healthcare. profit. Talking about private healthcare tout court as if it were a single block is misleading and wrong. It is the law establishing the NHS that provides for this.” If this distinction is not made, “any analysis is wrong.”
The president of Aris, Father Virginio Bebber, has the task of speaking about the first 60 years of Aris. «Years of history, work and passion – his thoughts – during which our social and healthcare structures have operated and operate as an institutional and integral part of the national healthcare system. Affiliated and always under a non-profit regime. On the front line. Yet over the course of these years our presence has constantly suffered unequal treatment towards those very public structures to which the law has always equated them in all respects. The country’s health system, yesterday as today, was and is evidently not capable of responding to citizens’ requests for assistance. It wasn’t and isn’t for a series of economic, but also and above all social, reasons. Then as today, Aris calls for a structural reform of the system, capable above all of requalifying social spending and harmonizing in a new way, with efficiency and solidarity, market and State, public and private. Aris is strongly animated by the desire to continue to support and raise awareness of non-profit healthcare, that is, the awareness of representing a wealth of availability, of irreplaceable material and spiritual resources. In this logic, as an association of socio-health religious institutes we have always taken sides, and will therefore continue to take sides, in defense of a system of universal coverage of the right to health, today called into question both by the continuation of the economic-financial crisis and by the interests of very strong economic groups that support the unavoidable need for the use of supplementary and replacement social security, with the overcoming of the current healthcare system. A presence, ours, which has proven over the years to be indispensable for the country’s healthcare system. This is our challenge. Our challenge to be there.”
At the end, the lawyer Giovanni Costantino, head of the Aris contracts delegation, took stock of the state of the work for the renewal of the Ccnl for the staff of associated social and healthcare facilities.
