The Mission of Loyola University Health System: An Introduction to our Catholic Identity and Jesuit Mission

Our Mission

Loyola University Health System is committed to excellence in patient care and the education of health professionals.  We believe that our Catholic heritage and Jesuit traditions of ethical behavior, academic distinction, and scientific research lead to new knowledge and advance our healing mission in the communities we serve.  We believe that thoughtful stewardship, learning and constant reflection on experience improve all we do as we strive to provide the highest quality health care.

We believe in God's presence in all our work.  Through our care, concern, respect and cooperation, we demonstrate this belief to our patients and families, our students and each other.  To fulfill our mission we foster an environment that encourages innovation, embraces diversity, respects life, and values human dignity.  We are committed to going beyond the treatment of disease.  We also treat the human spirit.   (adopted 2001)

These simple statements of the LUHS mission have the potential to animate and transform the lives of our patients and families, students and researchers, faculty and clinical staff, administrators and service professionals. These statements offer the underlying rationale – the spirit – which guides how we work with and learn from one another.  They suggest a calling to clinicians as they meet our patients, to students as they pursue their studies, to faculty and professional and support staff who all collaborate in so many important ways. Our mission is both challenge and promise as together “we also treat the human spirit.”  When this occurs, the good work we begin here enhances the quality of life and health for our patients and their families, for our neighborhoods and communities.

Loyola University Health System, a wholly owned subsidiary of Loyola University Chicago, is committed to excellence in patient care and the education of health professionals.  We believe that our Catholic heritage and Jesuit traditions of ethical behavior, academic distinction, and scientific research lead to new knowledge and advance our healing mission in the communities we serve. Thoughtful stewardship and ongoing reflection on experience improve all we do, as we strive to provide the highest quality health care to patients and families who seek our care.

We speak often of the “Loyola community” when we refer to ourselves and our work, and with good reason.  All across Loyola University Health System, clinical, ancillary, and professional staff work side by side for the common good of our patients and their families. We promote and enjoy a professional and supportive relationship with one another as we go about our daily tasks at the medical center and medical school, in our outpatient centers and primary care clinics.  We attend meetings, workshops, grand rounds and clinical events together. Some of us celebrate our faith traditions together. 

Because we respect and value the people and the gifts they bring, this relationship makes our professional work at Loyola more satisfying and enjoyable. Indeed some of us come to understand what we accomplish at Loyola in terms of a calling, or ministry.  Through Loyola’s MAGIS initiative, we foster goals of care, concern, cooperation, and respect as we serve our patients and one another.  We strive to become “persons for others” in the Jesuit tradition, always giving our best selves to “also treat the human spirit.”

Jesuit Heritage

The Society of Jesus -- the Jesuits -- is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and a like-minded company of believers. The mission of the Society of Jesus engages the service of faith and the promotion of justice. This is reflected in the mission statement of Loyola University Chicago and those of the other 27 Jesuit colleges and universities throughout the United States.  Jesuits established their first school at Messina, Sicily in 1548.  Medical education under Jesuit auspices began at the Jesuit university of Pont á Mousson in France in 1592. 

Loyola University Chicago is our parent organization.  Thus the first words of its own mission statement -- “We are Chicago’s Jesuit and Catholic University” -- should not be underestimated nor misunderstood. Our Jesuit and Catholic identity is the foundation for how the university and health system understand themselves, why they exist, how they operate, and how they strive to be perceived by the public. The question of what it means to be a Jesuit and Catholic university has been debated since the 16^th century when Jesuits first established their world-wide educational network. The answers changed over the centuries and for each Jesuit institution throughout the world.  Yet there are some basic characteristics which can help us understand the dynamism of the Jesuit educational process.  These include a passion for excellence, study of the sciences and humanities, a focus on issues of ethics and values, the importance of religious experience, and human interaction as always person-centered.   The outcome of a Jesuit education is the expectation that knowledge learned leads to committed action.  Jesuit education believes there is a responsibility and a calling to use what is learned for the benefit of others, especially the sick and vulnerable, the poor and those on the margins of society.

Justice and faith form the heart and soul of our Jesuit and Catholic identity. The promotion of justice is exemplified in how both health system and university interact with society. We believe that the God who created us also calls us to responsible action for the common good.  Loyola University Chicago and its health system are committed to the promotion of justice internally and beyond our campuses. This begins with respect for one another and the understanding that we share the common responsibility to act in a fair and just manner towards patients and students, staff and faculty. This relates to our self-understanding as a community; our actions impact the lives of those around us. This commitment is articulated in our internal MAGIS program goals described above, as well as in a values-based medical education that motivates graduates of Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine to improve the overall quality of human life and health.

Catholic Identity

As justice is the heart of how we understand ourselves, faith is the soul. We are a Roman Catholic university and health system where faith and spirituality are the foundation of the education we provide to our students and the care we give to our patients and their families. We openly and humbly share and celebrate the beliefs and values that form the rich heritage of our Catholic faith. It is out of the best of our Roman Catholic tradition that we understand Loyola University Health System as a “home for all faiths,” as well as a place of welcome for those with no particular faith tradition.  We do not simply tolerate religious diversity;  rather, we encourage all members of the Health System community to explore their own spirituality, to celebrate their faith, and to respect and learn from other persons of faith with whom they interact each day.  Following in the footsteps of Ignatius Loyola, we work actively at finding God in all the realities of our professional service and daily living.

As one of four Jesuit medical schools and the only Catholic academic medical center in the United States, Loyola University Health System values its opportunity to care for patients and to educate future physicians, nurses, bio-medical scientists, and other medical professionals in the long U. S. tradition of Catholic medical education and healthcare.  We are privileged to continue the healing mission of Jesus as we “also treat the human spirit.”  Loyola University Health System is committed to the standards of patient care and professional conduct outlined in the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services” of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.  Because Catholic healthcare continues Jesus’ healing ministry and reflects a consistent ethic of life, Loyola is committed to preserve, protect, and promote the physical health and well-being of all people.  As part of this commitment, we value our collaboration with other Catholic health systems and health care providers across the Archdiocese of Chicago, and with healthcare and medical education colleagues across the nation.

What we accomplish at Loyola -- in teaching, research, and clinical service -- has a direct effect on our patients and our students.  Indeed they are our fulfillment;  they are our hope.  Together with them, all of us at Loyola University Health System strive to embody the verse from Matthew 25:30 inscribed on the walls of Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine:  “I was ill and you cared for me.”