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With Catholic health systems expanding, stricter rules could have implications for reproductive and maternity care across the country. <\/p>\n
With Catholic health systems expanding, stricter rules could have implications for reproductive and maternity care across the country. <\/p>\n
by Nina Martin ProPublica, Nov. 11, 2014, 10:17 a.m. <\/p>\n
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The 2011 merger of the two remaining hospitals in Troy, N.Y., had many potential benefits and one huge hurdle. <\/p>\n
Samaritan was secular, committed to providing the widest possible spectrum of reproductive and maternity care to its Albany-area patients. St. Mary's was Catholic, limiting or banning many reproductive options and any merger partner had to abide by the same rules. <\/p>\n
It took several years of negotiations among three different health systems, much back-and-forth with women's advocates, and the sign-off of the local bishop. But in the end, the parties struck a deal that all of them could live with. The centerpiece was the brand-new Burdett Care Center, housed on Samaritan's second floor. <\/p>\n
To all appearances, Burdett was a typical maternity ward. But in reality, it was a separately incorporated hospital-within-a-hospital, secular and thus free from the Catholic restrictions that Samaritan had agreed to follow. Burdett could provide birth control and perform tubal ligations; if a woman was having a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, doctors could treat her according to generally accepted standards of care. <\/p>\n
Complicated? Yes. Cumbersome? Very. Still, as a compromise to preserve access to care in Troy, \"it's worked very well,\" said Lois Uttley of the nonprofit group MergerWatch, which helped broker the arrangement. <\/p>\n
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Catholic Bishops Weigh Tightening Rules for Health Care Partnerships<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 25 Twitter Facebook Email With Catholic health systems expanding, stricter rules could have implications for reproductive and maternity care across the country. Continue reading