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Audio: Hospital Merger Partners Speak at Board of Health Forum

Two hours of explanation did not silence the critics and skeptics of a pending hospital merger, though many new issues and complications have been revealed.The Louisville Metro Board of Health brought representatives from University of Louisville Hospital, Jewish Hospital and Catholic Health Initiatives to a public forum Wednesday evening. The partners took questions from the public and explained how procedures currently banned by the Catholic Church would or would not be performed at a merged University Hospital.If the merger is approved, University Hospital will not entirely follow Catholic care directives, according to the partners' attorney Jennifer Elliott. Rather, only certain procedures frowned upon by the Catholic Church will be banned. Namely, tubal ligations will be moved to Baptist Hospital East.U of L Chair for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health Sharmila Makhija explained how other reproductive services would be handled:

  • Miscarriage management will not change
  • Elective abortions are not performed at University Hospital and will not be performed after the merger
  • Medically indicated abortions (when the life of mother is threatened or the fetus has a lethal anomaly) will be performed at University Hospital
  • Emergency contraception (the morning after pill) will still be offered. "At this point in time it will remain the same," said Dr. Makhija.
  • Family Planning is usually done in outpatient centers and will not change.
  • Vasectomies are out of office procedures and will not change
  • In vitro fertilization will remain an out of office procedure
  • Contraception counseling and prescriptions will be available, but the hospital will no longer fill prescriptions for contraceptives.

For end of life care, patients and families will be informed of all their options. Euthanasia is not allowed, but officials say it is often not done at hospitals, but at long-term care facilities. Living wills will be honored.After merger, University Hospital will also honor the visitation rights of same-sex or unmarried partners of patients.Full audio of the merger (mp3 download):

http://archive.wfpl.org/20111019merger.mp3