Will Hospital Merger Equally Protect All Lives? by Doug Wrenn

Will Hospital Merger Equally Protect All Lives?

By Doug Wrenn

January 29, 2008

Recent news reports have painted a dismal, if not grim picture of the future financial stability of Waterbury's two hospitals. Supposedly, their fiscal woes are due in large part to late and/or lack of payments from the state and federal governments for Medicaid and Medicare patient reimbursements. (This tragic scenario is the textbook illustration of the sage adage, "If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it's free." That's a little gem worthy of reflection in this presidential election year.)

One suggested solution is a merger of the two hospitals into one "mega-hospital," which would theoretically incur fewer expenses while still maintaining the same level of service. (Although, people with whom I have spoken in Stamford, a city of comparable size to Waterbury, which has already undergone a similar merger of two hospitals, tell me that the current healthcare situation there is far from a panacea.) Underlying this proposal, however, is a daunting question that I have not yet heard addressed.

As the powers that be in both the private and public sectors rally together to attempt to resolve this crisis for the magnanimous endeavor of saving lives in our region, will all lives be equally protected if this merger comes to fruition?

Waterbury hospital is a secular hospital. St. Mary's is a Catholic hospital. Waterbury Hospital provides abortions. St. Mary's hospital does not provide abortions. Waterbury Hospital's Emergency Department provides the "Plan B" abortifacient contraceptive to female rape victims. The Emergency Department at St. Mary's Hospital, until recently anyway, did not dispense the Plan B pill.

An attempt to make the city of Waterbury "an abortion free zone" several years ago failed abysmally.

Last year, the state government legislatively mandated that Connecticut's remaining four (once five) Catholic hospitals must now also dispense the Plan B pill, despite the pro-life tenets of the Catholic Church. Apparently, the hypocrites who so often obsessively invoke "the separation of Church and State" don't lose a whole lot of sleep over the separation of State and Church.

If a merger between St. Mary's and Waterbury Hospital does occur, will abortions still be provided, or will all human life be respected and protected? Given the poor track record of protecting the sanctity of life in Waterbury and in Connecticut, I am as dreadfully concerned as I am realistically pessimistic.

I imagine that at some point, somehow, this problem will eventually be resolved. When the smoke clears, let us all hope that (as a lesser of two evils) two hospitals both emerge and vibrantly and independently continue to stand. When that day comes, private sector administrators and public sector bureaucrats alike will inevitably stand together, thumping their own chests, and slapping each other's backs, and boasting how their combined efforts saved countless lives throughout Waterbury and the surrounding area. Let us further hope (and pray) that they mean all lives, especially including those lives which are the most innocent and the most vulnerable.