Not a word mentioned.

It appears that Ellis Hospital and St. Clare’s in Schenectady, NY have agreed to merge based on the findings of the Berger Commission.

Ellis, which provides abortions (God have mercy on us) and St. Clare’s, a Catholic hospital, have accepted the State’s merger recommendation.

Will St. Clare’s demand that all abortions cease? I see no other alternative. I can’t imagine that a Catholic institution would simply agree to moving abortion services next door (not out-of-site, but out-of-mind). Let’s see how strong Christian witness will be in the face of government. For my part I’m guessing that we already know who’s in charge – the State.

From today’s Times-Union: Rivals bow to state panel: Ellis, St. Clare’s hospitals agree to merge in Schenectady

SCHENECTADY — Ellis and St. Clare’s hospitals have accepted the recommendation of a state commission to merge, both facilities announced Tuesday.

The hospitals released a joint statement in response to recommendations from the Berger Commission, the nonpartisan panel charged with undertaking an independent review of health care capacity and resources statewide.

The recommendations, released Nov. 28, were aimed at cutting costs in the health care industry.

“We approach this challenge together with a shared commitment to ensuring that the people of our community continue to receive the high quality of care they expect and deserve,” the joint statement said. “We face a great deal of work ahead to determine how together, St. Clare’s and Ellis can best deliver the full range of health care services our community expects. While a difficult and complex undertaking, we believe this is a positive step toward strengthening health care in Schenectady County, for generations to come.”

…

Ellis Hospital opened with five beds in 1885, according to the hospital Web site. The facility bears the name of John Ellis, who founded the Schenectady Locomotive Works. Today, Ellis employs 380 physicians and dentists, in addition to support staff.

On the other side of the city of Schenectady, two community leaders had approached the bishop about opening a hospital in 1942. Seven years later, St. Clare’s Hospital opened, according to the hospital’s Web site.

The State of New York commissioned a group to look at the state’s bloated healthcare industry and to make recommendations as to the best means to trim healthcare costs.

The Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, also known as the Berger Commission, is releasing their findings today. Among the recommendations will be suggested closures of hospitals because the state has too many hospital beds in relation to those needed.

Today’s Times-Union is carrying a story about the Commission’s recommendations for Schenectady area healthcare facilities. An excerpt from Report calls for Bellevue’s closure: It also recommends a unified administration for two Schenectady hospitals in order to trim expenses follows:

ALBANY — Bellevue Woman’s Hospital must close and the two remaining hospitals in Schenectady should face state sanctions if they don’t merge their bureaucracies, according to a plan to rid waste from New York’s health care system.

The comprehensive report slated to be unveiled today by the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century will call for nine hospitals around the state to close outright, and others to disappear through mergers.

Numerous nursing homes will also be shuttered or merged, including five in the Capital Region, according to people familiar with the report.

The consolidations are necessary for the state to trim excess health care beds and save taxpayers hundreds of millions in Medicaid expenses.

In the Capital Region, the commission found an overcapacity of health care services in Schenectady. It calls for closing Bellevue, which is celebrating its 75th year, sources briefed on the plan said Monday.

The commission also requires Ellis Hospital, now with 368 beds, and St. Clare’s Hospital, with 200 beds, to unite under a single governing structure. The recommendation would bring together a Catholic institution with family planning constraints, and a non-Catholic facility that provides abortions.

If the new governing board is not created by the end of 2007, the state could close one of the facilities entirely. The report will specify that the state health commissioner can expand or close Ellis or St. Clare’s and downsize up to 250 beds.

…

St. Clare’s and Ellis officials have declined comment on the plan.

The reality of New York’s system is that the state really controls the operations of a hospital through the Certificate of Need process. Want to add a bed, you need permission. Want to remove a bed, you need permission. Want to operate; you have to dip into public funds for everything from construction to day-to-day operations. You’re a Catholic institution and you think you have some say – nope.

Hospitals in New York are largely government funded (The Dormitory Authority issues construction/renovation bonds, Medicare and Medicaid cover 50% of hospital revenues, there are direct subsidies and grants). For more information see Dispelling the Myths – New York’s Hospital Finances: Another View (PDF document) by the Health Plan Association.

It will be interesting to note whether the Commission covered other options – things I would like to see such as:

• Cutting Medicaid benefits to basic healthcare needs only (hospitalization, infant and child well-care) and removing the grotesque add-ons such as coverage for family planning and abortions as well as coverage for selective services/procedures;
• Cutting off union demands for increased hospital funding and worker wage increases as demanded by the SEIU.

Above all this, the reaction from Catholic institutions should be very interesting. Will they be able to face down the juggernaut of government imposed mandates and consolidations? Will they simply acquiesce, and commingle their operations with hospitals that provide abortions, the ‘morning after’ abortion pill, sterilizations, and other family planning initiatives?

These questions will need serious consideration and a serious response in Schenectady and across New York. In other areas of New York the Catholic hospital may be the last one standing. Will they then be ‘required’ to offer abortions, sterilizations, and other options antithetical to Catholic teaching? Will the purse strings control the Catholic response?

Stay tuned.