Thank you for a detailed important article, Rebecca and Judd! The title, THE LARGEST FOR-PROFIT HOSPITAL CHAIN IS PUTTING PREGNANT WOMEN AT RISK, reveals several major issues: profit eliminating concern for right and wrong, and the lack of caring for the lives of pregnant women. The lives of women in all areas of life is the bottom line issue throughout all talk and every position about abortion. Regard and respect for women is missing when those who have no knowledge or wisdom about pregnancy and childbirth use undeserved power to control women's lives and fate. These false controllers include Alito of the Supreme Court and his prelates from centuries ago; the Catholic Church; and far too many mostly male politicians.
It’s also fear of lawsuits and in many cases criminal prosecution in states with Forced Birth laws. That’s why the victims need to be suing BIG TIME to make Doing the Wrong Thing at least as painful if not more so.
I have to add a post script about Catholics and hospital founding. One of the best hospitals to flourish in our country is known as the Mayo Clinic. Ken Burns' Mayo Clinic Documentary provides a familiarity with the best of both the non-religious scientists and medical doctors who were able to open what we call the Mayo Clinic thanks to a cadre of very loving and hard-working Catholic nuns. I watched it recently with a friend whose husband worked there for 6 years. She has a bias against the intimidation she experienced from nuns when growing up. Well, without the generous hearts and intelligence of these Franciscan nuns from Minnesota, this place would not have opened much less thrived. So, these women who devoted their lives to God were able to apply their devotion to do an enormous amount of good for many people. (Let's celebrate the good when we find it.)
Check this map for where Catholic Hospitals are - often in states that ban abortions. Should taxes women pay be used to support these Catholic Hospitals that deny them care?
FYI, Catholic hospitals are not the only facilities with religious objections. AND there are federal “conscience laws”. I’m not sure whether you are making a complaint or a proposal. One of the legal aspects of the abortion issue are challenges to the Feds ability to penalize facilities for not providing required care.
Example: Paducah Ky has 2 major hospitals: Lourdes (Catholic) and Baptist. While there are less than 30,000 people living in Paducah proper, the MSA population is over 100,000. Remove federal dollars and health care collapses. I can see where that threat would push the issue to service providers being encouraged by hospital networks to claim a conscientious or religious objection.
Why the hell is a hospital taking advice from a church? Here's an idea, get all these draconian religious freakshows out of government. Your religion has NO PLACE in legitimate fact based healthcare. Get your stupid religion out of healthcare and government.
I don’t know where you live but many many medical facilities were founded by religious groups and their influence remains. They’ve been empowered by “freedom of religion” decisions.
I remember picketing at Lourdes, a Catholic hospital in Paducah KY, many years ago in support of nurses organizing. We were periodically greeted with the sounds of gunfire in the woods behind it. There was a saying that when nuns are on your board they become little CEOs. IOW, no longer caring sisters worried about sufficient staffing and good health care.
Women and their allies must must must vote this issue. And to vote for those who believe that a woman's body, in any condition save coma, is her responsibility and always within her right to make decisions regarding it. We are slipping as a country and it is not a slow roll, but a wrecking ball with men's hands at the control. I fear for democracy.
Sixty-eight billion dollars profit for health care? My god, y'all.
HCA was started by the Frist family. Former US Senator Bill Frist, was involved in Medicaid/Medicare fraud during his tenure at HCA, but managed to quell the investigation through political connections.
I’m not certain the article is a good representation of HCA’s history. It appears to have been written with a specific narrow perspective some time ago and misses a few things such as ads that ran against Rick Scott, the involvement of Rick Scott and that currently a Frist is chairman. “Thomas Frist III became Chairman of the HCA Board on April 26, 2019 and has served on the board of directors since 2006.“
I am a practicing Catholic. I would like to note that the church in my area spends a considerable amount of time advocating against abortion. The church does not, however, spend any time advocating against capital punishment. Given that fact and the church's stance on women as priests, I think it is clear that the church's staunch advocacy against abortion, at least where I live, is about something other than the sanctity of life. I struggle with reconciling my faith with the politics of the church.
I am not a practicing Catholic. I have observed here in KY the church worked diligently for public tax $$ to go to private schools; against abortion; sporadically against the death penalty and is in generally well organized and nimble about adapting services to opportunities to obtain public tax $$. On LGBTQ+ rights it publicly claims to be against discrimination while its schools have middle school homework assignments such as writing a hypothetical letter to a friend “struggling with homosexuality,” encouraging them to reject homosexuality and persuading them to follow “the goodness of God’s design for them.”
It is unfortunate that the history of public service by the Church is sullied with such things.
We need to separate Church and State, and that includes state supported hospitals that receive Medicare and our tax money in order to operate. Expand Veterans Hospitals into a national care system instead.
And now that the dog caught the car, and women are suffering and dying, which Catholics and Evangelists will finally admit they have no right to impose their religious beliefs on others, and America isn't obliged to pay for their 'values', whether in the medical industry or schools or to prop up their church's real estate investments?
Catholics and Evangelists who do not want to acknowledge this are working to replace American Democracy with an autocratic oligarchy; they do not believe in representative Democracy. Those extremists have to at last confess what this is all really about--nothing to do with religion, no particular concern for women or children, just all about gaining undeserved untrammeled political power, so they can Lord it over others.
Anyone who cares can look up the history of HCA/Columbia; the turn it took under Rick Scott & how he left them holding the bag when the feds caught on. In the health care industry women are low hanging fruit subject to stereotypes, politics, religious influences, cost cutting and threats. No one says “stop providing care for heart attacks or we will …”.
It is not surprising a for-profit would act like this especially given the religious and political climate where it is headquartered. I also remember that some non-profits were found with greater excess revenue than for profits several yrs ago. For profit or otherwise, all of them rely on hospitals in their networks that have religious ties. They are often the only source of medical care for communities. Many of those institutions have no qualms about using medical care as a vehicle to further their goals related to revenue, religion and politics. I suspect the turning away of pts before intake is to keep pt outcomes from reflecting the bad policies. Afterward it gets trickier.
I should add, for some types of care, HCA has excellent services. Patients with non-controversial but common and profitable conditions like kidney failure. My son who has complex health issues & disabilities from a stroke has an assigned RN who only works with kidney patients. She periodically comes to his home & is available to him by phone. She’s the trainer for using at home dialysis systems like his.
BUT … DIY dialysis is probably less expensive than dialysis centers which are often joint ventures with physicians whether pts know it or not. His nephrologist with his previous insurer in a different “network” would not approve at home treatments; there was no assigned nurse or home visits and he traveled 2 hours round trip 3x a week for 3 hour treatments.
Trying to find more info on "United Church Foundation" - redirects to United Church Fund, which gives me NO info at all on this group. UCFund purports to be part of United Church of Christ; I doubt they are affiliated with HCA; hope someone can clarify.
Above all it's clear that HCA is a BIG funder of political opportunists in backward states that forbid abortion no matter what the cost or consequences to woman. Just another example of big business dictating the outcome for women at risk! They'd rather see women die than make realistic decisions about nonviable pregnancies. This must be stopped!
Idaho has lost all or most of its ob-gyns because they cannot practice proper healthcare; they risk jail and losing licenses. These medieval laws are backfiring on states - November will bring huge backlash for forced birth killing of women!
Thanks for raising that question. I tried searching for “United Church Foundation HCA” and wound up on UFC’s site. I don’t think UFC and HCA are affiliated. (I should add, except for UFC being a shareholder.) It appears that UFC joined with the Marguerite Casey Foundation and Rhia Ventures to do some push back.
—UCF and Marguerite Casey Foundation Withdraw Shareholder Proposal at HCA Healthcare Following Productive Engagement —
Followed by statements like these:
— In response to the proposal, HCA Healthcare had clarified publicly that its member hospitals are prepared to provide emergency abortions in accordance with the U.S. Health and Human Services directive on Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), affirming pregnant patients’ right to access abortion in emergencies —
Charles Buck, UCF’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “In the post-Dobbs era, patients and doctors in many states are navigating new rules that are not clear. … We’re pleased that we have successfully raised awareness of this critical issue and that HCA Healthcare has made it clear that they will abide by EMTALA.”
Thank you for a detailed important article, Rebecca and Judd! The title, THE LARGEST FOR-PROFIT HOSPITAL CHAIN IS PUTTING PREGNANT WOMEN AT RISK, reveals several major issues: profit eliminating concern for right and wrong, and the lack of caring for the lives of pregnant women. The lives of women in all areas of life is the bottom line issue throughout all talk and every position about abortion. Regard and respect for women is missing when those who have no knowledge or wisdom about pregnancy and childbirth use undeserved power to control women's lives and fate. These false controllers include Alito of the Supreme Court and his prelates from centuries ago; the Catholic Church; and far too many mostly male politicians.
It’s also fear of lawsuits and in many cases criminal prosecution in states with Forced Birth laws. That’s why the victims need to be suing BIG TIME to make Doing the Wrong Thing at least as painful if not more so.
I have to add a post script about Catholics and hospital founding. One of the best hospitals to flourish in our country is known as the Mayo Clinic. Ken Burns' Mayo Clinic Documentary provides a familiarity with the best of both the non-religious scientists and medical doctors who were able to open what we call the Mayo Clinic thanks to a cadre of very loving and hard-working Catholic nuns. I watched it recently with a friend whose husband worked there for 6 years. She has a bias against the intimidation she experienced from nuns when growing up. Well, without the generous hearts and intelligence of these Franciscan nuns from Minnesota, this place would not have opened much less thrived. So, these women who devoted their lives to God were able to apply their devotion to do an enormous amount of good for many people. (Let's celebrate the good when we find it.)
Check this map for where Catholic Hospitals are - often in states that ban abortions. Should taxes women pay be used to support these Catholic Hospitals that deny them care?
"Catholic Hospitals Criminalize Women’s Reproductive Healthcare"
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/01/30/catholic-hospitals-criminalize-womens-reproductive-healthcare-billions-medicare-medicaid-reimbursements/
Follow the money behind Churches playing politics with this interactive chart.
"Church plays politics with tax exempt dollars"
https://thedemlabs.org/2022/07/14/church-pushes-abortion-ban-with-your-tax-dollars/
And follow the Christian extremist's scheme to push their religious agenda on America through Project 2025.
"Project 2025: Follow Leonard Leo’s unholy war to overthrow American democracy"
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/02/26/leonard-leo-dark-money-project-2025-christian-dictatorship-gilead/
FYI, Catholic hospitals are not the only facilities with religious objections. AND there are federal “conscience laws”. I’m not sure whether you are making a complaint or a proposal. One of the legal aspects of the abortion issue are challenges to the Feds ability to penalize facilities for not providing required care.
Example: Paducah Ky has 2 major hospitals: Lourdes (Catholic) and Baptist. While there are less than 30,000 people living in Paducah proper, the MSA population is over 100,000. Remove federal dollars and health care collapses. I can see where that threat would push the issue to service providers being encouraged by hospital networks to claim a conscientious or religious objection.
Actually, for-profit hospitals put everyone’s health at risk, and put pregnant women’s health even more so.
Why the hell is a hospital taking advice from a church? Here's an idea, get all these draconian religious freakshows out of government. Your religion has NO PLACE in legitimate fact based healthcare. Get your stupid religion out of healthcare and government.
I don’t know where you live but many many medical facilities were founded by religious groups and their influence remains. They’ve been empowered by “freedom of religion” decisions.
I remember picketing at Lourdes, a Catholic hospital in Paducah KY, many years ago in support of nurses organizing. We were periodically greeted with the sounds of gunfire in the woods behind it. There was a saying that when nuns are on your board they become little CEOs. IOW, no longer caring sisters worried about sufficient staffing and good health care.
Women and their allies must must must vote this issue. And to vote for those who believe that a woman's body, in any condition save coma, is her responsibility and always within her right to make decisions regarding it. We are slipping as a country and it is not a slow roll, but a wrecking ball with men's hands at the control. I fear for democracy.
Sixty-eight billion dollars profit for health care? My god, y'all.
HCA is Yuge. It also operates in the UK. We are so very dependent on fewer and fewer health care choices.
HCA was started by the Frist family. Former US Senator Bill Frist, was involved in Medicaid/Medicare fraud during his tenure at HCA, but managed to quell the investigation through political connections.
See: https://pnhp.org/news/the-bad-doctor-bill-frists-long-record-of-corporate-vices/#:~:text=Frist%20was%20born%20rich%2C%20and,by%20Frist's%20father%20and%20brother.
I’m not certain the article is a good representation of HCA’s history. It appears to have been written with a specific narrow perspective some time ago and misses a few things such as ads that ran against Rick Scott, the involvement of Rick Scott and that currently a Frist is chairman. “Thomas Frist III became Chairman of the HCA Board on April 26, 2019 and has served on the board of directors since 2006.“
From NIH: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1119297/
Here is a TN perspective.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/industries/health-care/2018/08/16/hca-hospitals-nashville-health-care-company-timeline/986397002/
I am a practicing Catholic. I would like to note that the church in my area spends a considerable amount of time advocating against abortion. The church does not, however, spend any time advocating against capital punishment. Given that fact and the church's stance on women as priests, I think it is clear that the church's staunch advocacy against abortion, at least where I live, is about something other than the sanctity of life. I struggle with reconciling my faith with the politics of the church.
I am not a practicing Catholic. I have observed here in KY the church worked diligently for public tax $$ to go to private schools; against abortion; sporadically against the death penalty and is in generally well organized and nimble about adapting services to opportunities to obtain public tax $$. On LGBTQ+ rights it publicly claims to be against discrimination while its schools have middle school homework assignments such as writing a hypothetical letter to a friend “struggling with homosexuality,” encouraging them to reject homosexuality and persuading them to follow “the goodness of God’s design for them.”
It is unfortunate that the history of public service by the Church is sullied with such things.
We need to separate Church and State, and that includes state supported hospitals that receive Medicare and our tax money in order to operate. Expand Veterans Hospitals into a national care system instead.
And now that the dog caught the car, and women are suffering and dying, which Catholics and Evangelists will finally admit they have no right to impose their religious beliefs on others, and America isn't obliged to pay for their 'values', whether in the medical industry or schools or to prop up their church's real estate investments?
Catholics and Evangelists who do not want to acknowledge this are working to replace American Democracy with an autocratic oligarchy; they do not believe in representative Democracy. Those extremists have to at last confess what this is all really about--nothing to do with religion, no particular concern for women or children, just all about gaining undeserved untrammeled political power, so they can Lord it over others.
Following the money, can be so enlightening.
So many corrupt officials, business leaders, and companies, ethical reporters are tripping over them hourly. Be careful out there.
Thank you for your work...it is appreciated and actually saving lives.
Voting Republican is a co-morbidity at this point, as are their policies, and not just when it comes to women's health care.
You're a Republican, you have blood on your hands. Same if you vote for any GOP candidates.
Very simple process for me : "If the Catholic Church is FOR it, I’m AGAINST it and if the church is AGAINST it, I’m FOR it".
Anyone who cares can look up the history of HCA/Columbia; the turn it took under Rick Scott & how he left them holding the bag when the feds caught on. In the health care industry women are low hanging fruit subject to stereotypes, politics, religious influences, cost cutting and threats. No one says “stop providing care for heart attacks or we will …”.
It is not surprising a for-profit would act like this especially given the religious and political climate where it is headquartered. I also remember that some non-profits were found with greater excess revenue than for profits several yrs ago. For profit or otherwise, all of them rely on hospitals in their networks that have religious ties. They are often the only source of medical care for communities. Many of those institutions have no qualms about using medical care as a vehicle to further their goals related to revenue, religion and politics. I suspect the turning away of pts before intake is to keep pt outcomes from reflecting the bad policies. Afterward it gets trickier.
I should add, for some types of care, HCA has excellent services. Patients with non-controversial but common and profitable conditions like kidney failure. My son who has complex health issues & disabilities from a stroke has an assigned RN who only works with kidney patients. She periodically comes to his home & is available to him by phone. She’s the trainer for using at home dialysis systems like his.
BUT … DIY dialysis is probably less expensive than dialysis centers which are often joint ventures with physicians whether pts know it or not. His nephrologist with his previous insurer in a different “network” would not approve at home treatments; there was no assigned nurse or home visits and he traveled 2 hours round trip 3x a week for 3 hour treatments.
Interesting tidbits you’ve shared, Ann. Thank you.
“I suspect the turning away of pts before intake is to keep pt outcomes from reflecting the bad policies.” - terrible, and sad. 😔
Terrific reporting!
Trying to find more info on "United Church Foundation" - redirects to United Church Fund, which gives me NO info at all on this group. UCFund purports to be part of United Church of Christ; I doubt they are affiliated with HCA; hope someone can clarify.
Above all it's clear that HCA is a BIG funder of political opportunists in backward states that forbid abortion no matter what the cost or consequences to woman. Just another example of big business dictating the outcome for women at risk! They'd rather see women die than make realistic decisions about nonviable pregnancies. This must be stopped!
Idaho has lost all or most of its ob-gyns because they cannot practice proper healthcare; they risk jail and losing licenses. These medieval laws are backfiring on states - November will bring huge backlash for forced birth killing of women!
Thanks for raising that question. I tried searching for “United Church Foundation HCA” and wound up on UFC’s site. I don’t think UFC and HCA are affiliated. (I should add, except for UFC being a shareholder.) It appears that UFC joined with the Marguerite Casey Foundation and Rhia Ventures to do some push back.
(Link to Rhia Ventures https://rhiaventures.org/media/press-shareholder-proposals-2023/)
MarketScreener —United Church Foundation Submits a Shareholder Proposal to HCA Healthcare—
https://in.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/HCA-HEALTHCARE-INC-7534808/news/United-Church-Foundation-Submits-a-Shareholder-Proposal-to-HCA-Healthcare-46309779/
And — https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/HCA-HEALTHCARE-INC-7534808/news/HCA-Healthcare-Receives-a-Shareholder-Proposal-from-United-Church-Funds-46213920/
UFC Headline on its site:
—UCF and Marguerite Casey Foundation Withdraw Shareholder Proposal at HCA Healthcare Following Productive Engagement —
Followed by statements like these:
— In response to the proposal, HCA Healthcare had clarified publicly that its member hospitals are prepared to provide emergency abortions in accordance with the U.S. Health and Human Services directive on Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), affirming pregnant patients’ right to access abortion in emergencies —
Charles Buck, UCF’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “In the post-Dobbs era, patients and doctors in many states are navigating new rules that are not clear. … We’re pleased that we have successfully raised awareness of this critical issue and that HCA Healthcare has made it clear that they will abide by EMTALA.”
https://ucfunds.org/hca-shareholder-proposal/
Does HCA have anything to do with Bill Frist who used to be Republican majority leader of the Senate?
Trans women? How does a Trans woman get pregnant? She has no ovaries or uterus. I understand not identifying as a woman or a man.