It's Official: Waterbury Hospital Merger Called Off

After a year of talks, a problematic proposed hospital merger in Waterbury, CT, is off the table. This proposed deal involved a for-profit partner – LHP Hospital Group -- out of Texas that originally approached St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, a Catholic facility owned by the local diocese. When officials of the only other hospital in Waterbury – secular Waterbury Hospital -- heard about the talks, they asked to join. The new deal would have culminated with the building of a replacement hospital in 5 years. Even though LHP would have owned 80 percent and Waterbury and St. Mary’s would each own just 10 percent, the joint venture’s new facility would have been operated under the Catholic Ethical and Religious Directives (ERDs).

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It's MergerWatch’s 15th Anniversary!

We are celebrating with screenings of our new film! Our anniversary film features three of our key hospital merger cases in Kingston, NY; Troy, NY and Sierra Vista, AZ. The film captures how MergerWatch staff work with health care providers, community activists, hospital board members and women's health advocates to protect patients' rights when religious and secular hospitals are proposing to merge.

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Catholic Hospitals Should Provide Contraceptive Coverage

Catholic hospitals should be expected to provide contraceptive coverage for their employees, and should not be given a religious employer exemption from the new coverage requirement, MergerWatch said in comments submitted this week to the Department of Health and Human Services. The Catholic Health Association, reversing an early position, is demanding that the Obama administration exempt Catholic hospitals, arguing that these hospitals are ministries of the Catholic Church.

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Anti-choice groups oppose continuation of abortion services in Waterbury, CT, following hospital merger

A proposal in Waterbury, CT, would bring together secular Waterbury Hospital and Catholic Saint Mary's Hospital under a new joint venture with a Texas-based for-profit company, LHP Hospital Group. Even though Saint Mary's would own only 10% of the joint venture, the two secular partners have agreed to have Catholic health restrictions apply.

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Louisville Merger Heats Up

Updated on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 01:50PM by MW Editor

In just a few weeks, people in Louisville, KY have truly impressed us with their response to a large hospital merger proposal. The plan would require a public teaching hospital, which is the area’s safety net for low-income patients, to adhere to religious rules that restrict basic health care. As one editorial from the Courier Journal asked:

“How can the state or the city allow this to happen, and to permit millions of dollars of the public's money to be allocated and spent in shadowy backrooms, where Catholic bishops will have more influence than doctors or the people of this city?”

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