The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) was founded in 1915 as the Catholic Hospital Association of the United States and Canada. The association has offices in Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri.
Every year, one in six hospitalized patients in the United States is cared for in a Catholic health care facility. In addition, thousands of elders in the U.S. live and are cared for in Catholic long-term care and other continuum of care facilities. Catholic health care is a ministry of the Roman Catholic Church continuing Jesus' mission of love and healing in the world today. Comprising more 600 hospitals and 1,400 long-term care and other health facilities in all 50 states, the Catholic health ministry is the largest group of non-profit health care providers in the nation. Since 1915, these organizations have come together in the Catholic Health Association of the United States to achieve collectively what they could not individually, sharing ideas and strengthening their identity as ministries of the Catholic Church. Through CHA, the ministry raises its passionate voice advocating justice and compassionate care for people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds, from conception to natural death. The association is led by Sr. Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity, who assumed her duties as president and chief executive officer in 2005.