Category Archives: Ascension

Dr. Kevin Grady, Ascension Michigan's CEO and president spoke at the UTG at Work healthcare roundtable on Wednesday, Jan. 24 about faith in the workplace. (Photos by Gabriella Patti | Detroit Catholic)

DETROIT Dr. Kevin Grady's Catholic faith informs every decision he makes as both a medical professional and as regional president and CEO of Ascension Michigan.

The hospital executive and doctor spoke Jan. 24 to a handful of local professionals during the second health care leadership roundtable hosted by a new apostolate, UTG at Work, whose mission is to help Catholic working professionals bring their faith into the workplace.

The roundtable, sponsored by the Catholic Foundation of Michigan, was preceded by Mass at St. Aloysius Parish in downtown Detroit, followed by the luncheon talk and discussion led by Dr. Grady at the next-door Westin Book Cadillac hotel.

Launched in 2023, UTG at Work ("UTG" is short for "Unleash the Gospel") was created to help women and men understand their identity as missionary disciples, equip them to discover their unique mission from God, and support them as they joyfully deliver faith and witness to Christ and the Gospel in the workplace, according to its mission statement. The apostolate is led by Deacon Michael Houghton, former director of missionary strategic planning for the Archdiocese of Detroit, and Mary Martin, a former coach and team leader in the department.

At the request of Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, who supports the apostolate, Deacon Houghton and Martin said the first few events are focused on leaders in the health care industry. However, the talks are open to anyone.

The roundtable, sponsored by the Catholic Foundation of Michigan, was preceded by Mass at St. Aloysius Parish in downtown Detroit, followed by the luncheon talk and discussion led by Dr. Grady at the next-door Westin Book Cadillac hotel.

A Catholic outlook makes a real difference in the world of health care, Dr. Grady told those in attendance. The difference can be seen not just among the staff, but also with patients.

(At Ascension), we offer faith-based health care rooted in the loving ministry of Jesus, Dr. Grady said. "We commit ourselves to helping all people, with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable. We are advocates for a compassionate and just society. The common thread of why associates stay at Ascension St. Johns is not the salary. It's not the food. It is the commitment to faith-based Catholic health care delivered to everyone, especially those in need.

There are major disparities in health care, Dr. Grady said, and in order to make sure care is delivered justly, health professionals need to consider how to make health care equitable, rather than equal.

For example, he said, medical conditions may impact different communities in different ways, which should inform a health care professional's approach to treatment.

For instance, if I'm treating hypertension in the African-American population and I use the same (approach) I am using in non-African-American populations, then I am not giving them the best of care, Dr. Grady explained, referencing unique factors that may cause a higher incidence of high blood pressure among Black communities. Its equal, but thats not equitable because it's not taking into consideration the patient's (specific needs.)"

UTG at Work is led by Deacon Michael Houghton (pictured), former director of missionary strategic planning for the Archdiocese of Detroit, and Mary Martin, a former coach and team leader in the department.

At the request of Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, who supports the apostolate, Deacon Houghton and Martin (pictured left) said the first few events are focused on leaders in the health care industry. However, the talks are open to anyone.

Amidst a health care crisis in which physicians are currently in short supply, Dr. Grady said a personal goal is to help guide new doctors and nurses as they transition into the field. He has served on the Wayne State University Medical School Admissions board for 10 years, a position he first occupied after realizing that the current class had only two individuals of color.

That is not (representative of) the community that they serve, Dr. Grady said. I wanted to be on the medical school admissions committee. Over those 10 years, we changed the medical school class at Wayne so it looks like the community it serves. What well now have are physicians who are trained here who stay here.

As part of his role on the committee, Dr. Grady said he interviews prospective medical students. His questions all stem from his faith upbringing, rooted in the treatment and dignity of others.

(One) question (I ask) is, If the golden rule is treating people the way you would like to be treated, what is the platinum rule? Dr. Grady said. For the first time in nine years, someone answered that correctly in about six seconds. He said, Oh, its simple: Treat people the way they would want to be treated.

At the conclusion of Dr. Grady's talk, he took questions from those in attendance, including about his role as a health care leader, the importance of equitable care, and the recent merger of several southeast Michigan Ascension hospitals with the Henry Ford Health System.

As a leader, Dr. Grady said his goal is to oversee a change in how health care is delivered, and his faith is informing how he does it.

My job is to be part of changing how we deliver health care: we deliver it to everyone, Dr. Grady said. We do it for the right patient, at the right time, at the right place, at the right price, with a smile. So is that directly from my Catholic upbringing? Darn right, it is. Because if I do it that way, I can maintain my mission, my vision and my values.

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Ascension Michigan CEO discusses faith in health care at UTG at Work roundtable - Detroit Catholic

When a season ends with a thud the way the Dallas Cowboys did against the Green Bay Packers in the super wild-card round, it washes away a lot of positive things.

Coach Mike McCarthy led the Cowboys to their third consecutive 12-win season, which hadnt happened since the 90s, yet his job status hung in the balance for a few days.

Dak Prescott was in the MVP conversation late in the season. Thats been replaced by: How far is the Dallas QB capable of leading the Cowboys in the postseason?

Micah Parsons set a career high with 14 sacks but faded down the stretch.

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Cowboys fan poll results: When will they win Super Bowl? Who was best coaching option?

There were some positive takeaways for the Cowboys that dont carry caveats and are things to build upon, though. Lets examine.

Lamb has been on an upward trajectory in most statistical categories since he entered the NFL in 2020. With Amari Coopers departure in 2022, Lamb proved capable of carrying the label of a No. 1 receiver on a good team. However, this season, Lamb showed hes also capable of hovering in the top layer of the league.

Lamb led the NFL this season in targets (181) and receptions (135). He finished second in receiving yards with 1,749, just 50 behind the Miami Dolphins Tyreek Hill. All of this despite the Cowboys not properly utilizing his talents for the first five weeks (except for Week 2); he made a public plea following the Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. If the Cowboys had turned in a deep playoff run, that moment would be viewed as a turning point for the offense. Lamb earned first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career.

The numbers speak for themselves but can often be circumstantial. Justin Jeffersons season totals arent high because he missed seven games. JaMarr Chase had a good year that probably would have been better if Joe Burrow hadnt been lost to injury for almost half the season. The same goes for Lambs numbers if he was as involved as he should have been for the first segment of the season.

CeeDee Lamb: First five games

1

at Giants

4

4

97

19.3

0

2

Jets

13

11

143

13

0

3

at Cardinals

7

4

53

13.3

0

4

Patriots

6

4

36

9

1

5

at 49ers

5

4

49

12.3

0

What made Lamb shoot to the top of the league was how unguardable he consistently was. Lamb strung together one big game after another, including a torrid three-game stretch midway through the season after the bye week. Defenses knew the ball was coming to him, and nobody else on the Cowboys offense warranted attention the way Lamb did. Nothing could be done to stop Lamb, who had a 227-yard performance in Week 16.

CeeDee Lamb: Final 5 games

Wild card

Packers

17

9

110

12.2

0

18

at Commanders

13

13

98

7.5

2

17

Lions

17

13

227

17.5

1

16

at Dolphins

10

6

118

19.7

1

15

at Bills

10

7

53

7.6

0

Lamb doesnt always make highlight-reel catches, but hes always open, and his production isnt just a lot of empty stats. When Lamb is going, so too is Prescott and the Cowboys offense. Hes set to get paid in a big way soon.

After Lamb, nobody was targeted by Prescott more in 2023 than Ferguson (102). The season didnt start glowingly for the Cowboys tight end. He had some drops early and had more than 50 yards in only one of the first seven games.

However, Ferguson had a career-best performance on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles in the eighth game and finished with more than 50 yards in three of the last six games. His drop issues were replaced with some highly contested catches over the middle of the field, particularly on the seam route, where Ferguson and Prescott developed great chemistry and trust. The three-touchdown performance against the Packers was mostly a garbage-time affair but still a positive note for Ferguson to enter the offseason on.

There were questions about who could carry the No. 1 tight end label in Dallas following Dalton Schultzs departure, and Ferguson answered that bell.

Perhaps no position swung as hard from one side to the other from training camp, in terms of how big the question was to how secure the answer proved to be. Aubrey didnt have the strongest training camp, particularly in the early portion in Oxnard, Calif., but he finished the preseason on a high note and carried that into the season.

For the first 16 weeks, Aubrey was perfect 35-for-35 on field goals, which included bad-weather games and long-distance kicks. Aubrey missed a couple in the regular-season finale (one was blocked because of a miscue up front, and another doinked off the goal post). Still, there was never anything close to the uneasy feeling Cowboys fans got accustomed to late last season with Brett Maher, and even with the overall kicking situation in training camp.

Brandon Aubrey: Nearly perfect

20-29

9-9

100

30-39

13-15

86.6

40-49

4-4

100

50-54

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Positive takeaways for the Cowboys? CeeDee Lambs ascension, DaRon Blands meteoric rise - The Athletic

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The studio behind Silent Hill: Ascension has denied it is using artificial intelligence to write dialogue for the game.

IGN reported players have been sharing examples of the game's writing via social media, accusing developer Genvid of using AI to generate it.

For example, former Giant Bomb video editor Jess 'Voidburger' O'Brien shared a clip of an NPC who says he has been berry hunting, confirms he has seen something strange in the woods but does not elaborate, and returns to hunting for berries.

Genvid CEO Jacob Navok posted a response on X (formerly Twitter), insisting: "Every word in Ascension was written by real people, many of whom have long-running careers in writing including Telltale titles, Pixar titles, [God of War] Ragnarok, Resident Evil Village and more.

"Across our 100,000+ words, zero are authored by LLMs or AI, and all are from dedicated work of a talented team."

Navok later expanded in a longer post about the use of AI in games development, confirming that Genvid has previously runs tests to see if the technology could improve animation or cinematic production but concluding that the results were "not great" and resulted in "a lot of repetitive movements."

The studio also experimented with programmatically-directed scenes, akin to Left 4 Dead's AI director, but this produced wonky shots, incorrect cuts, and lacked the sense of timing you get on TV, which is what Genvid aims to emulate.

Navok emphasised that most of these tests were concluded by the end of 2021, and "none of that work ended up being used on this or other projects."

"We have a team of animators working on the project, a team of writers who wrote the scripts, and narrative designers who made the choices. Suggesting otherwise is just a veiled insult to talented humans who have worked hard to create something they are proud of."

He added that the tests has also made him sceptical about the US of AI in creative endeavours, and that the technology is "a long way away from doing creative work."

However, Genvid continues to experiment with AI in detecting offensive user names when accounts are registered, which is "working to an extent [but] still not perfect."

Silent Hill Ascension, like Genvid's other titles, is essentially a choose-your-own adventure style narrative game that is livestreamed and the outcomes dictated by audience voting.

IGN reported Ascension has previously be criticised for its use of microtransactions, with players suggesting big spenders have more voting power.

Navok told the site that "the notion that users can 'win' by paying is generally false."

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Genvid denies using AI to write Silent Hill: Ascension - GamesIndustry.biz

In recent weeks there has been a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases across the country.

A new variant, from a previously thought to be uncommon strain, now accounts for about one-tenth of circulating viruses according to the Centers for Disease Control. Locally, Ascension Via Christi has also seen some rise in new cases presenting to the hospital, though not nearly to the level of what it saw three years ago. President and CEO Bob Copple says the hospital went back to universal masking earlier this month.

1129-Copple 1

Copple says the newest variant seems to begin with a cough. He advises the public to get tested if they feel symptomatic, but strongly encourages that be done through at home testing, at your primary care provider or urgent care.

Copple says the hospital has even dealt with some staff coming down with the virus in recent weeks.

1129-Copple 2

Flu and other gastro-intestinal viruses are also circulating in the community. Copple advises folks to wash their hands and be aware as the peak cold and flu season approaches.

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Uptick in COVID and flu prompts universal masking at Ascension Via Christi - News Radio KMAN

Have you heard of the Jam Man of Silent Hill: Ascension? You're about to. In the third episode of what started out as a potentially interesting experiment and has quickly snowballed into a complete disaster, Karl Johansen (a Norwegian farmer) runs into the Jam Man.

I'm just going to let this clip shared by VoidBurger on Twitter play out (you can also watch the full episode here. The Jam Man materialises at around 24:33).

Silent Hill: Ascension has some stilted dialogue, but this is a particularly egregious example. One which had the morbidly curious wondering if the whole thing was AI-generated: "This random NPC pops in, declares he's berry hunting, says he's seen weird shit and does not expound on it, provides no information, leaves for more berries. Goodbye forever, BerryMan," writes VoidBurger in a follow-up quote Tweet with over 13,000 likes.

The character's actual name is "Forager", or CrimsonRain722. If you're wondering why a Silent Hill character has numbers next to their name, that's because Forager/Jam Man/Berry Man is a cameo, a side-character players can spend "tickets" on. This gets their name plastered next to them, and uses their customisable avatar as a model. Here's another fun example courtesy of AnonyMooseXIV on Twitter.

Nothing gets me in the mood for horror like seeing a Twitch-style username and a subtitle telling me exactly what the thing I'm looking at is, during a weird close-up of someone's bland Silent Hill mii. Very immersive. Anyway, Genvid's CEO, Jacob Navrok, has said that Jam Man is not the product of a deep learning algorithm, as per a statement on his Twitter.

"Every word in Ascension was written by real people across our 100,000+ words, zero are authored by LLMs or AI, and all are from dedicated work of a talented team," says Navrok. I'm sort of willing to believe him, only because I think we're all getting a touch too comfortable with pointing at things that are downright bad and saying 'Ah, this must be AI-generated!'

But something is absolutely going wrong with Silent Hill: Ascension's scripting in general. One hefty tick in the 'AI shlock' column is how Jam Man says: "Now that you mention it, I have seen some strange things out in these woods. You?" Before immediately veering back into his latest hyperfixation, rowan berries.

I figure a couple of things could've happened here. One, this scene was originally longer, but it was cut for time. From a production standpoint, a lot of mistakes have been made, but in the editing booth this is absolutely the right move. If you need to snip something, Jam Man's waffling dialogue to justify the price of a cameo should be the first thing on the cutting room floor.

This could also just be a case of poor direction given to the voice actor. That "You?" could have intentionally been something like 'I have seen strange things in these woods, like you.' Which would make sense. A Norwegian farmer in the woods with a gun is pretty strange. Maybe the Forager was just getting defensive, he was just trying to make his Jams.

Jam Man also mentions a "patch" of rowan berries. Rowan berries grow on trees, and while you could describe a group of trees as a patch if you thought real hard about it, it's not really the correct language, especially if berries are your passion. This wouldn't be the first time a writer's fumbled phrasing or not done the research, so under any other circumstance it'd be a non-event.

My point being, there are a thousand different things that could go wrong before AI gets involved. The suspicion is warranted, though, considering how vocal Navrok has been about exploring AI in the past. He goes into this in a separate post: The team tested AI-directed scenes, but "they don't have a proper sense of timing for TV", they tested using AI for chase scenes, but "they would just get stuck too often."

"We previously used AI to try to do chat moderation, but this failed," which is why text chat is currently disabled, by the way. It was a trainwreck. "We are using AI to detect offensive names for account registration. This is working to an extent. Still not perfect, but better than previous solutions We are actively working on a new chat moderation solution, though just your standard models available for license."

Again, you are free to apply pinches of salt as much as you'd like. I for one am happy to take Navrok at his word, though that's not to say a rogue writer couldn't be using LLMs on the sly. Still, sometimes a thing just isn't that good. Even if everyone's trying their damndest to make it so. One thing's for certain: I will never forget Jam Man. His jams will always have a place in my heart.

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Silent Hill: Ascension's terrible Jam Man (who likes to make jams) was not written by AI, says Genvid CEO: 'every word ... - PC Gamer

Silent Hill Ascension, the interactive series based on Konamis legendary horror games, is not written by an AI, co-creator Jacob Navok says. Some viewers of the show claim that the dialogue in SH Ascension sounds like it is AI generated, and point to previous comments from Navok, as well as other members of Genvid, the company behind Silent Hill Ascension, as evidence that the show is written using artificial intelligence. Navok reaffirms that this is not the case, saying that such claims are a veiled insult to the shows actual writers. It comes as Bloober Team shares an update on Silent Hill 2 Remake, and we await Silent Hill Townfall and Silent Hill F.

Silent Hill Ascension is an interactive series whereby viewers can use virtual currency to vote on and influence the direction of the narrative. As part of a huge revival of the Konami horror game series, which includes the remake of Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill Townfall, and Silent Hill F, some Ascension viewers claim that the show has been written using AI.

Silent Hill Ascension is absolutely written by AI and I cannot be convinced otherwise, Twitter/X user Voidburger, also known as Jess, says, sharing a clip from Ascension wherein a character appears, explains they are out in the forest searching for berries, and then leaves. Another Twitter/X user, Bobvids, replies, saying Jess is 1000% correct and heres proof.

Bobvids then links to a June 2023 blog post from futurist Ross Dawson, wherein Dawson says they have recently attended the Simulations Summit at Founders Inc., and heard a lecture from Stephan Vladimir Bugaj, chief creative officer at Silent Hill Ascension creator Genvid. Stephan Vladimir Bugaj of Genvid talked about massively interactive live events in which human and autonomous AI characters interact to create simulated narratives, Dawson writes.

The Twitter/X users also share comments from Jacob Navok, Genvids founder. On Wednesday July 19, 2023, Navok responds to another Twitter/X user regarding Genvids upcoming projects, one of which, at the time, may have been Silent Hill Ascension. This led to a lot of changes to our upcoming projects, Navok says, all of which feature AI characters.

However, in the same reply, Navok explains that after running experiments using AI, it is now working on much heavier emphasis on story and directed action [and] human cinematography/animation for scene types over AI-driven.

Similarly, a month earlier, on Monday June 19, 2023, Navok explains in greater detail how Genvid has removed some AI elements, and which elements remain. Seeing an AI metahuman in Silent Hill trying to use an animation library to run from a monster in a pathed space was more comical than it was scary, Navok says. We had a seed system that created a massive number of paths forward, and then frequently the AI would get stuck.

We need to ship this year, so we had to remove those AI-driven escape sequences and mocap the runs instead. The characters are still AI actors because no player is controlling them, but we determine the movements, fix the eye look, lipsync, and fingers.

Now, possibly in response to recent claims, Navok shares a new response regarding the alleged use of AI in Silent Hill Ascension, reiterating that the series was written by real people, and that to suggest otherwise is a veiled insult.

Every word in Ascension was written by real people, many of whom have long-running careers in writing including TellTale titles, Pixar titles, God of War Ragnarok, Resident Evil Village, and more, Navok says. Across our 100,000 plus words, zero are authored by LLMs [large language models] or AI, and all are from dedicated work of a talented team.

We ran tests several years ago to see whether AI could improve animation or cinematic production pipelines. We also tried to have programmatically-directed scenes like what Left 4 Deads AI director was doing nearly two decades ago, but this led to a lot of wonky shots where cameras sat too long, or on wrong objects, or cut incorrectly. Basically, they dont have a proper sense of timing for TV.

Most of the test work was done in 2021. None of that work ended up being used on this or other projects. We have a team of animators working on the project, a team of writers who wrote the scripts, and narrative designers who made the choices. Suggesting otherwise is just a veiled insult to talented humans who have worked hard to create something they are proud of.

Returning to the AI topic, our earlier work in the field made me a skeptic on the use of AI for a lot of creative endeavors. I get asked a lot about AI in games, and my response has been that I think AI is a long way away from doing creative work.

Elsewhere in Silent Hill news, Bloober Team confirms that Silent Hill 2 Remake is still in production, but urges fans to be patient, and await further news from Konami itself. You can find out everything there is to know about the Silent Hill 2 release date.

If youre looking forward to all the new Silent Hill projects, in the meantime, you might want to try some of the other best single-player games, or maybe the best survival games available on PC.

Make sure to follow us on Google News for more daily PC gaming news, guides, and reviews.

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Silent Hill Ascension co-creator responds to claims it's written by an AI - PCGamesN

Published 11:45 am Thursday, November 30, 2023

DOWAGIAC One area foundation turned a part of Dowagiac pink Wednesday in support of providing life-saving care to women in Cass County.

The tree, donated and wrapped with more than 1,500 pink lights by Jon Mitchell, illuminated the night sky as members of the foundation, hospital staff and the community joined together in celebration. The tree was blessed by Amanda Hassle of the Myers-Henry & Hassle Real Estate Team and with the push of a button, she made the pink lights appear.

Retired Lee administrator and cancer survivor Sue McCormick was this years featured speaker. McCormick was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ in 2013 and with Invasive ductal carcinoma just three months ago. She credited her family, her community and her team of nurses for helping her overcome the disease. Her nurses were able to surprise her by making a trip to the tree lighting ceremony.

My nurses were phenomenal, she said. I will never forget and always be grateful to Lynn and Monica. I remember they pulled at the end of the office and told me to put my big girl panties on and move forward to complete my treatment. So, they gave me a pair of big girl panties.

McCormick, who had held onto that gift ever since, brought it to the ceremony and hoisted them up for all to see and was met with laughter and a round of applause for her achievement.

So far, the foundation is moving toward its $25,000 goal for the Tree of Love Campaign. The campaign provides free mammography services for uninsured or low-income women and men living in Cass County. According to Ascension, one in eight women will develop breast cancer and one in five cant afford a mammogram. To date, Ascension Borgess-Lee has provided more than 300 free screening services.

The foundation will continue to raise funds until the end of the year.

In addition, the foundation is also promoting the Helping Our Patients in Emergencies Fund, which provides patient needs including prescription medications, medical equipment (e.g., walker, commode chair, oxygen), gas or transportation for follow-up appointments, food, electricity and more.

McCormick encouraged men and women to get mammograms and to donate to the campaign.

I implore all of you to get your mammograms, not just occasionally but annually because cancer grows very fast, she said. Please talk to your family members and your friends, spread the word. Use me as an example. Because of my mammograms, the cancer was detected in the early stages both times They saved my life. Through our tree of Love campaign, we are hoping to reach out to those who are underinsured or uninsured to enable them to obtain mammograms and possibly save their lives women and men.

To make a donation or learn more about the Ascension Borgess-Lee Foundation, call (269) 783-3026.

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Ascension Borgess Lee Foundation hosts annual Tree of Love ... - Leader Publications

From Staff Reports

Ascension St. John has joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahomas Medicare Advantage networks.

The new agreement, which adds Medicare Advantage PPOSM and Medicare Advantage HMOSM, starts on Dec. 1, 2023, and will service Medicare members in Tulsa, Creek, Rogers, Osage, Wagoner, Okmulgee and Muskogee counties.

Providing the most comprehensive access to care in Oklahoma is the foundation of what we do and we are excited to deepen this partnership with Ascension, BCBSOK President Stephania Grober said. Our new agreement means our Medicare members now have expanded access to care in more than 55 counties in Oklahoma.

BCBSOKs Medicare Advantage plans have broad network access, prescription drug coverage and supplemental benefits including dental, vision and hearing. The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period is happening now and closes on Dec. 7, 2023, for Jan. 1, 2024, coverage.

Facilities included in the agreement are: Ascension St. John Owasso along with Ascension St. John Hospital in Tulsa, Ascension St. John Broken Arrow, Ascension St. John Jane Phillips Bartlesville, Ascension St. John Nowata and Ascension St. John Sapulpa.

Ascension Medical Group also participates in these networks: Blue TraditionalSM, Blue Choice PPOSM, Blue Preferred PPOSM, Blue Advantage PPOSM, BlueLincs HMOSM and Native BlueSM.

Our continued partnership with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma brings security for the thousands of Oklahomans who trust Ascension St. John with their well-being, Ascension St. John Senior Vice President and Oklahoma Ministry Market Executive Bo Beaudry said.

For questions about coverage and in-network providers, visit bcbsok.com.

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Ascension St. John joins Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Okla.'s ... - Tulsa World

Special to The Message

Habitat for Humanity of Evansville has announced that Ascension St. Vincent has committed to donating $40,000 per year, beginning immediately, to help build a Habitat home in coordination with Catholics for Habitat, which will fund the remaining portion of the home.

Catholics for Habitat includes representatives from several Evansville-area Catholic parishes who come together to raise money and build a Habitat home each year. With the help of Ascension St. Vincent, they will now be able to fund a second home that will be jointly sponsored by the two groups.

The first home as part of the new partnership is already underway in the Tepe Park neighborhood, and volunteers from both sides have been actively helping to build the home alongside the Habitat Core Crew and the future homeowner, Abigail B.

To date, Catholics for Habitat has completed 17 homes in the Evansville area, representing $1 million in support for Habitat and its homeowners.

Alex Chang, President of Ascension St. Vincents Southern Region, said, "As the region's leader in Catholic healthcare, we are proud to support the work of Habitat for Humanity of Evansville and Catholics for Habitat. The Ascension St. Vincent mission drives us to serve others, with special attention to the poor and vulnerable. Safe housing is key to maintaining one's health. Working alongside organizations like Habitat for Humanity is one way we strive to live our mission and support the health and safety of our community."

Future homeowner Abigail is extremely grateful to Habitat for Humanity of Evansville and Ascension St. Vincent for this opportunity, saying, Without them, none of this would have been possible. I couldnt have done this on my own, and I cant say thank you enough to everyone.

Abigails home will be completed by early spring in 2024.

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Ascension St. Vincent takes active role with Habitat for Humanity ... - Catholic Diocese of Evansville

Recognizing a lack of diversity in their clinical trials and research, St. Louis-based Ascension set out to improve in this area, and has made strides that have recently received recognition. This "mission-aligned" work has been a focus for Fredrick Masoudi, MD, chief science officer at the health system, who began his role in 2021.

Dr. Masoudi told Becker's he's specifically been involved in developing a national structure to help enable research across Ascension, which includes improving the representativeness of populations that are enrolled in clinical trials.

"Ascension's mission is to care for the poor and vulnerable," he said. "This work is entirely aligned with our long-standing mission."

The work began by measuring how the health system was doing in this area. Ascension adopted an enterprisewide clinical trials management system, which provided information about populations that were enrolling in clinical trials across the organization.

"I was happy to see that as we've aggregated those data, that the populations we enroll in clinical trials with respect to race and ethnicity very closely mirror the population for which we care for, which is a good place to start," said Dr. Masoudi.

One example he cited was a clinical trial that supported colleagues within Ascension DePaul Services of New Orleans. The trial occurred at a clinic that serves a predominantly ethnic minority population and centered around a cognitive behavioral therapy app to improve diabetes control.

"They knocked it out of the park in enrolling individuals at DePaul," Dr. Masoudi said. "They have a very motivated and capable team. They have long worked in the community and have built trust there, which is a key component to engaging individuals in trials. As a result, the population enrolled in the clinical trial was completely transformed with respect to race and ethnicity."

Also, in Tulsa, Okla., the Ascension St. John Clinical Research Institute recently won the inaugural Global Site Excellence in Diversity Award from the Society for Clinical Research Sites for its work to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in clinical trials. The award, sponsored by Syneos Health, was given after the institute established a program called Bridging Diversity Together. The program began in 2019, and program efforts and partnerships, including with the Eastern Oklahoma National Black Nurse Association committee and Indian Health Care Resource Center, resulted in a 9.2% increase in enrollment of American Indian individuals; a 6.6% enrollment increase of Black individuals; and a 2.6% enrollment increase of Asian individuals.

"This is occurring in an evolving landscape where the FDA is increasingly interested in the diversity of clinical trial participants," Dr. Masoudi said. "This is an opportunity for us to work with sponsors in this respect and improve the generalizability of the results of trials. Because of Ascension's footprint and the populations we serve, we can be leaders in this respect."

Ascension, which operates care sites in 19 states and the District of Columbia, has no plans to lose focus on making strides in this area. Dr. Masoudi said the hope is that the health system can be working with sponsors of clinical trials to develop more innovative and meaningful approaches to enhancing enrollment in trials among different populations. He said Ascension is also working closely with its chief community impact officer, Stacy Garrett-Ray, MD, on these efforts.

Still, he acknowledged that many pieces play a role in the fundamental components of lack of representativeness, such as logistical barriers and needing to find the time during working hours to make an appointment.

"We can work with sponsors to develop and support approaches that address logistical barriers to participation," said Dr. Masoudi. "We can also contribute to trial design with the objective of minimizing the burden to participants."

Trust is a factor, as well, given the long history of mistrust among individuals who are racial and ethnic minorities around clinical research.

"Addressing these issues of mistrust and developing stronger bonds within the community is a really important piece to it, as well. It's something that we look forward to working with Dr. Garrett-Ray around," Dr. Masoudi said.

Representation among researchers could also play a role in clinical trial participation. A recent retrospective study from researchers at Boston Medical Center found that patients could be more willing to participate in clinical studies when the research staff is of the same race or ethnicity.

"DePaul is a good example of how a clinician who is known and trusted in the community and a research coordinator who looks like the individuals in that community contributes to participation," Dr. Masoudi said. "We recognize that trust is an issue we need to tackle head on, given that mistrust in research is entirely understandable given the history of research in underserved communities."

He also said Ascension will also remain focused on integrating research within clinical care, meaning working with clinicians and addressing the priorities that are most pressing for their patients and for them. The health system also remains focused on the importance of research in building robust programs and advancing the mission of the organization.

"There are increasing incentives to enhance the diversity of the populations that are engaged in research," he added. "More importantly, it's the right thing to do, and in our case, it is mission-aligned."

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Ascension's science chief on the mission-driven work to increase ... - Becker's Hospital Review