Vincentian Lecture Highlights Health Care and Human Dignity

“Health care is a human right.”

That was the core message Sister Teresa Maya, CCVI, Ph.D., delivered during her lecture, “Health Equity and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition,” held on April 13 on St. John’s University’s Queens, NY, campus. Sr. Teresa serves as Senior Director, Theology and Sponsorship at the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA).

The event was the final presentation in this year’s Vincentian Chair of Social Justice lecture series, whose theme was “Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the University.” 

“I have the privilege of leading a college that prepares future professionals in nursing, pharmacy, physician-assisted studies, clinical laboratory sciences, and radiological science,” explained Anne Y. F. Lin ’84P, ’86Pharm.D., FNAP, Dean, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, in her introduction. “Health-care disparities have always been with us, but I think at this moment in time they are widening, marked by strained health systems and growing uncertainty in many communities.” 

She added, “Guided by our Catholic and Vincentian values, we believe that health care must always be delivered with compassion, dignity, and respect, and that it is not a privilege, but a fundamental expression of our shared humanity.”

Sr. Teresa opened by advocating for the role of Catholic identity in modern health care. “Why does it matter? And what does it have to offer to health care in general, especially in the United States? I think the why always begins with the Gospel. It is the Gospel mandate to healing that brings us to addressing the disparity and the equity concerns.”

She pointed to widening gaps in access within the same communities. “It is untenable that individuals who have a lot of wealth have access to concierge care, while in the same community you have people who do not even have access to primary care.”
Some populations are avoiding care altogether, she observed. “Many of our immigrant patients are not even coming, because they’re afraid. We have seen a decline in health-care attention that is alarming.”

Sr. Teresa believes these disparities mandate action and that responding to these needs is an essential act of justice, warning students against reducing care to technical skill. “You’re not just learning to be a pharmacist or a physician assistant. How are you going to deliver this care? How are you going to attend to the whole person?”

Eunice Mbawa, a third-year biomedical sciences major and Treasurer of the Biomedical Science Organization, was moved by her discussion with Sr. Teresa. “She highlighted that becoming a health-care professional is not all about the academics,” Eunice said. “It’s more about how you deal with a person and that human relationship—forming a connection with your clientele.”

“You should really attend to all their needs,” said Philip Marbid, a fourth-year Pharm.D. candidate of his patients. “This includes their emotional, physical, and even their spiritual needs. It’s really about taking care of the whole human person. You can’t reduce them to a list of symptoms.”

Throughout her talk, Sr. Teresa emphasized many Christian values that need to be part of health care, noted Rev. Patrick J. Griffin, C.M. ’13HON, Executive Director, Vincentian Center for Church and Society. “In the end, Sr. Teresa found her lesson in the parable of the Good Samaritan,” he said. “At the end of the parable, Jesus asks his questioner, ‘Who was neighbor to the man who was injured?’ It is the one who treated him with mercy. Jesus instructs His followers to, ‘Go and do likewise.’ Catholic health care must put its emphasis upon human mercy as the response to our neighbors in need.”

Sr. Teresa’s lecture can be viewed here.