The Institute of Medicine, Education, and Spirituality at Ochsner was established in 2011 as a unique educational and research program. Its research, educational programs, and consulting services, offered to all at Ochsner Health, stress meaning and purpose through virtue and character development.

Over the past ten years, IMESO has offered educational programs and consulting services to many at Ochsner Health as well as other healthcare systems. The programs support a healthy culture where human sentiments can be established and renewed while caring for patients and one another. It reminds all that healing is wholistic in nature and includes the union of the body, mind, and spirit. IMESO is another gateway at Ochsner that supports the values and virtues involved in the interactions between healer and patient and among all employees. It is the fuel that supports the meaning and purpose in healthcare.

The founder and Vice President of IMESO is Rev. Anthony J. De Conciliis, C.S.C., a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross based at Notre Dame, Indiana. His background includes administrative and academic positions in higher education and extensive clinical experience. Most recently, he was the C.E.O. and President of the University of Holy Cross. He has held positions as Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs at two academic institutions, Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs, Director of Counseling Services and Associate Professor of Psychology. He holds a professional doctorate in pastoral care (D.Min.) and an academic doctorate (Ph.D.) in pastoral counseling as well as master’s degrees in Theology and Counseling. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland as the founder and faculty leader for the Character in Medicine course for all medical students at Ochsner Health and the University of Queensland Medical School.

Mission Statement

We believe that when individuals in healthcare connect with others with their hearts, minds and spirits, we are better healers and we have a greater ability to advance the organization's mission.

Vision

We desire to:

1. Heal
2. Inspire
3. Transform

Goals

We help individuals to:

1. Enhance Character and Spirit*
2. Express workplace Goodness**
3. Promote Meaningful Connections

We help the organization to:

1. Education for development of workplace character, the expression of goodness and ability to connect meaningfully at work
2. Research for discovery of the linkages between workplace spirituality** and Healing
3. Spirit and Culture*** for the enhancement of Ochsner's Mission and Values

*“Spirit is that aspect or essence of a person that gives him or her power and energy, and motivates the pursuit of virtues such as love, truth, and wisdom.”

-Denise D. McKee and John N. Chappel, Spirituality and Medical Practice

** Goodness: It is more than excellence of character, it is character energized, expressing itself in active good behaviors.

*** Culture: An organization’s ability to maintain a competitive advantage may be a function of its ability to encourage a sense of interconnectedness and meaning among its employees.

**** Spirituality: The experience of conscious involvement in the project of life integration through self-transcendence toward the ultimate value one perceives.”

Sandra Schneiders, Religion and Spirituality: Strangers, Rivals, or Partners?