A physician practice is cutting ties with Louisville, Ky.-based KentuckyOne Health due to the system's restrictions on contraception and will instead work with competitor Norton Healthcare next month, according to a Courier-Journal report.
The six-person staff of Highlands Family Medicine was employed by Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare before it merged with St. Joseph Health System to form KentuckyOne, which is controlled by Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives. The physicians do not have to abide by Catholic health directives in facilities that were formerly part of Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's pre-merger.
Within those "legacy" Jewish Hospital facilities, however, physicians are not allowed to administer birth control shots, dispense birth control pills or place intrauterine devices if they are solely intended to prevent pregnancy.
"We didn't want to work within any organization where any religion was controlling our practice," Rachel Busse, MD, part of Highlands Family Medicine, said in the report. "Anything that limits (birth control), even on the philosophical level, is difficult for us."
Dr. Busse, Stephen Roszell, MD, and nurse practitioner Megan Ward will become employees of Louisville-based Norton Healthcare Sept. 1.
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The six-person staff of Highlands Family Medicine was employed by Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare before it merged with St. Joseph Health System to form KentuckyOne, which is controlled by Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives. The physicians do not have to abide by Catholic health directives in facilities that were formerly part of Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's pre-merger.
Within those "legacy" Jewish Hospital facilities, however, physicians are not allowed to administer birth control shots, dispense birth control pills or place intrauterine devices if they are solely intended to prevent pregnancy.
"We didn't want to work within any organization where any religion was controlling our practice," Rachel Busse, MD, part of Highlands Family Medicine, said in the report. "Anything that limits (birth control), even on the philosophical level, is difficult for us."
Dr. Busse, Stephen Roszell, MD, and nurse practitioner Megan Ward will become employees of Louisville-based Norton Healthcare Sept. 1.
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