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Community Questions Possible Merger of Catholic St. Joseph Medical Center With Non-Catholic Partner

St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Md., owned by Catholic Health Initiatives in Denver, may become part of a non-Catholic hospital system, according to a Baltimore Sun report.

Only one of St. Joseph's suitors, St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, owned by St. Louis-based Ascension Health, is a Catholic hospital. The other two, also in Baltimore, LifeBridge Health and the University of Maryland Medical System, are non-Catholic entities. LifeBridge Health's Sinai Hospital and its geriatric facility are Jewish institutions.

Some community members worry a merger with LifeBridge or the University of Maryland Medical System could threaten its operations as a Catholic healthcare provider. Catholic institutions usually follow a religious doctrine including the prohibition of many women's services such as abortion, sterilization, tubal ligations and in-vitro fertilization. The conflict between religious and secular ownership in merging hospital groups has recently raised questions and even killed deals.

While the hospitals negotiating with St. Joseph's have agreed to honor its "catholic identity," officials will not clarify terms of that agreement, according to the report.

More Articles on Maryland Hospital Transactions:

St. Joseph Medical Narrows Partner Search
St. Joseph Medical Center in Maryland Attracts 5 Hospitals for Partnership
University of Maryland Medical System Could Take Over Troubled Public Hospitals

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