{"id":302,"date":"2011-12-04T18:38:16","date_gmt":"2011-12-04T22:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.khpi.org\/blog\/?p=302"},"modified":"2012-01-22T14:12:03","modified_gmt":"2012-01-22T18:12:03","slug":"why-is-a-bishop-even-in-the-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.khpi.org\/blog\/why-is-a-bishop-even-in-the-room\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is A Bishop Even In The Room?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was plowing through my unread pile of newspapers and came to the report by Patrick Howington of October 17; \u201cHospital Merger- Altered Catholic rules pose problems.<\/em>” \u00a0A subtitle asserted that \u201cHospital officials say fears of church interference are overblown.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Really! \u00a0 In point of fact, they are not overblown at all.\u00a0 A number of\u00a0 examples of church and secular hospital mergers were listed for which the winks and nods and work-a-rounds that were approved by a local bishop were overturned later by higher authorities or changes in rules.\u00a0 We are not<\/span> talking about a theoretical problem.<\/p>\n

By coincidence (or perhaps as a sign) as I read this article today, the leadoff report on the CBS Sunday Morning Show<\/em> focused on a Catholic hospital in Phoenix.\u00a0 A woman who was 11 weeks pregnant developed severe pulmonary hypertension as a complication of her pregnancy.\u00a0 The result for both her and her fetus would have been fatal.\u00a0 The local hospital Ethics Committee considered her case and gave its approval for an emergency abortion to save the life of the mother.\u00a0 That decision was shared by the nun who sat on the committee.\u00a0 The woman’s life was saved but her pregnancy was sadly but predictably lost.<\/p>\n

The local Bishop of Phoenix heard of the matter, declared that “Scandal” was caused by the hospital (a term of art in the Catholic Church when its “Directives” are violated), declared that the hospital was no longer Catholic, and excommunicated the all-too-human Sister Margaret of the Ethics Committee.\u00a0 One Sunday Morning<\/em> interviewee stated that it was a “cruel act\u201d to excommunicate the nun.\u00a0 To me the actions of the Bishop were positively medieval\u2013 right up there with the burning of witches.\u00a0 I say Sister Margaret is a Saint, martyred by her own church.<\/p>\n

I had a similar patient some years ago at the University of Louisville Hospital who was treated by her doctors in the same way: that is to say according to the highest standards of medical practice.\u00a0 Fortunately we did not have to consider the personal or church standards our local Catholic Bishop might have held. \u00a0 If the merger proposal moves forward,\u00a0 we will have to do exactly that for every single admission, regardless of the patient’s faith, because\u00a0 University Hospital has promised not to put the Catholic Church in a state of Scandal.<\/p>\n

Who can say these women should have been treated differently? \u00a0In fact, I believe no physician in Louisville would have denied these woman the medical care they did receive.\u00a0 If there is one of you out there, tell us why below.\u00a0 If you are a Catholic bishop or priest in Louisville, tell us what you would have done in these cases.\u00a0 We have every right to know what you may or not permit in the future.<\/p>\n

Peter Hasselbacher, MD<\/p>\n

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