By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    4 Reasons Chris Cornell’s Death Raises Medical Ethics Questions
    December 19, 2018
    What If You Could Sell Your Vote?
    August 24, 2017
    The Sleepy American
    September 12, 2017
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: The Slow Work of Healing
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Finance > The Slow Work of Healing
FinanceHospital AdministrationPolicy & Law

The Slow Work of Healing

Marya Zilberberg
Marya Zilberberg
Share
4 Min Read
slow healing
SHARE

I just finished reading “Tattoos on the Heart” by Gregory Boyle. I came to it partly via Krista Tippett’s conversation with him last summer at the Chautauqua Institute, and partly through other sources.

I just finished reading “Tattoos on the Heart” by Gregory Boyle. I came to it partly via Krista Tippett’s conversation with him last summer at the Chautauqua Institute, and partly through other sources. It is a far-ranging account of his work over the last 20 years with the members of toughest Latino gangs in LA through his non-profit Homeboy Industries. The book is suffused with love for these societal outcasts and peppered with wisdom, some in the Christian and some in other traditions, including secular.

What does a book like this have to do with healthcare? Well, a lot. There are many points that might help rehumanize clinical medicine. But this passage on page 179 really made me stop in my tracks:

Funders sometimes say, “We don’t fund efforts; we fund outcomes.” We all hear this and think how sensible, practical, realistic, hard-nosed, and clear-eyed it is. But maybe Jesus doesn’t know why we are nodding so vigorously. Without wanting to, we sometimes allow our preference for the poor to morph into a preference for the well-behaved and the most likely to succeed, even if you get better outcomes when you work with those folks. If success is our engine, we sidestep the difficult and belligerent and eventually abandon “the slow work of God.”

slow healingNow, I am not Christian or even particularly religious. I am, however, a fan of the Jesus persona who merged with the poor and the hungry and the downtrodden, who became the change he wanted to see. And I had to re-read this paragraph several times, particularly the last sentence. Is this not exactly what we are seeing in medicine? We have told ourselves a lie that by chasing only those outcomes that are quantifiable we are pursuing only that which is important. But wasn’t it Einstein who said that not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts?

More Read

Obamacare
Millennials: Obamacare Costs Less Than Your Cell Phone Bill
Does Socialized Medicine Bring More Accountability?
Healthcare Predictions for 2013
Online Meningitis Content Raises Concerns About Overall Prescription Drug Safety
Within Debt Ceiling Debate, House Dems ‘Just Say No’ to Medicare Cuts

Is this gaming of the system that Father Boyle talks about in the paragraph above not exactly what we are seeing as the end-result of the perversion of the idea of evidence-based medicine? What if we change a few of the words in the above paragraph (and stick to secular language)? Will it fit what is happening in medicine today?

Payors Funders sometimes say, “We don’t fund efforts; we fund outcomes.” We all hear this and think how sensible, practical, realistic, hard-nosed, and clear-eyed it is. But maybe Jesus doesn’t know why we are nodding so vigorously. Without wanting to, we sometimes allow our preference to help the sick for the poor to morph into a preference to take care of for the well-behaved and the most likely to succeed, even if you get better outcomes when you work with those folks. If success is our engine, we sidestep the difficult and belligerent and sickest and eventually abandon “the slow work of healing God.”

I don’t have the answers to how to solve our fiscal and quality crises in medicine. Well, I do, but they involve a cultural overhaul of the entire US of A. But this paragraph sure is making me think.

(image: healing / shutterstock)

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025
engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

3 Dangerous Health Care Myths that Just Won’t Go Away

March 2, 2020

Cosmetic Surgery Under Scrutiny

September 26, 2011
Physician Marketing, Online
BusinesseHealthFinance

Top 5 Online Strategies for Successful Physician Marketing

May 4, 2014
Hospital AdministrationTechnology

Top Tips For A More Eco-Friendly Healthcare Facility

June 12, 2019
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?