Establishment of CHAC as a National Secretariat

The CHAC 2009 redesign proposal called for a significant change in the orientation of the organization. It ceases to be a national association and becomes, instead, a "national secretariat" or resource centre.

Embedded in this phrase – national secretariat – in the context of the CHAC, is a fundamental shift in terms of both structure and operations. We are talking about the replacement of the current national association model with a national secretariat approach.

The focus will not be on representing diverse membership groups or membership categories, but on establishing the national secretariat as a resource centre that will work on a limited number of projects discerned as priorities by a Governing Council. We believe this change will result in a more productive, focused and effective organization, and reflects a much more effective use of limited resources.

Focus Areas

The redesign suggests there are unique functions that the national secretariat can fulfill in support of Catholic health care at a pan-Canadian level. The four focus areas are:

ethics;
leadership development;
mission and values integration (including standards for mission integration and spiritual and religious care); and
advocacy at the national level.