Association of Brethren Caregivers tours Advocate Bethany Hospital.

The Association of Brethren Caregivers’ Executive Committee and Wellness Ministry cabinet toured Advocate Bethany Hospital in Chicago, prior to the ABC Board’s fall meetings Sept. 29-30 in Elgin, Ill.

The Association of Brethren Caregivers has some connections to the former Bethany Hospital, which began in conjunction with Bethany Theological Seminary when the school was located in Chicago. The tour allowed executive committee members to view the hospital’s transition to providing acute longterm care, from providing general health and emergency care.

The hospital received widespread publicity when it announced the move last January. At the ABC Board’s previous meeting in March, Church of the Brethren representatives who serve on the Governing Council of Advocate Bethany Hospital met with the board to report on the hospital’s reasons for moving to acute longterm care and how it might better serve its surrounding community.

In other business during its fall meetings, the ABC Board also approved holding National Older Adult Conferences (NOAC) in 2008 and 2009, ensuring that NOAC and National Youth Conference will no longer fall in the same year; received a written report titled “Stem Cell Research Report and Study Guide” from a task force created jointly by ABC and the Church of the Brethren General Board; heard reports about its ministries and events; and discussed the work of the denomination and ways agencies work together with Stan Noffsinger, general secretary of the General Board. Noffsinger was invited to the meetings as part of the ABC Board’s ongoing review of the Vision Statement it approved and released to the denomination last fall.

The board also took part in a board development session to evaluate its current make-up, vision, and focus. The session included a component that encourages the board to rethink its future goals and work.

These were the last board meetings for John Wenger of Anderson, Ind., who moves off the board Dec. 31. He will continue to serve on the Wellness Ministry. The board also accepted Gayle Hunter Sheller’s resignation and approved the appointment of Chris Whitacre of McPherson, Kan., to complete her term and represent the western districts.

For more about ABC go to www.brethren.org/abc.

Source: 11/22/2006 Newsline