Tuesday April 8, 2008

Statement Regarding St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and CHRISTUS Health

The members of our coalition remain deeply concerned that the pending merger between St. Vincent Hospital and CHRISTUS Health will make patients’ decisions about reproductive health and the end of life subject to religious beliefs that may not be their own.  SVH officials have made it clear that the hospital—the single most important source of major medical care in Northern New Mexico—will hereafter consider itself a Catholic institution and that the religious health care directives will control the scope of services offered to patients. 

Nevertheless, we are pleased that Secretaries Alfredo Vigil and Pam Hyde, upon hearing the concerns of the community, succeeded in obtaining details about the transaction and commitments in writing that were more substantive than anything St. Vincent and CHRISTUS shared with us.  We greatly appreciate their intervention.  

The hospital has now made commitments to high-ranking state officials to provide most, but not all, of the full range of reproductive health services and end-of-life care.  Those assurances create a bright line test to determine whether the hospital’s commitment to comprehensive care for all residents is slipping. 

The Secretaries indicated their intention to meet regularly with St. Vincent to monitor these and other commitments.  Likewise, this coalition will closely watch over the merger, and advise state officials when the hospital departs from its assurances.

The work of our coalition has just begun.  We call on the community to assist us in monitoring the execution of this merger and the provision of services in the months and years to come.  We ask physicians, patients or their legal representatives to alert us to any religious-based limitations encountered in receiving desired care in the areas of family planning, reproductive choice, or the honoring of end of life decisions.

We have made our voices heard once, and we will make them heard again if we find St. Vincent Hospital is backing down from its commitments.

Members of the coalition include: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, Southwest Women’s Law Center, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist – New Mexico Section, Compassion & Choices, Equality New Mexico, NARAL Pro-Choice New Mexico, Planned Parenthood of New Mexico, Inc., New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, and The MergerWatch Project