Louisville Merger Heats Up

Updated on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 01:50PM by MW Editor

In just a few weeks, people in Louisville, KY have truly impressed us with their response to a large hospital merger proposal. The plan would require a public teaching hospital, which is the area’s safety net for low-income patients, to adhere to religious rules that restrict basic health care. As one editorial from the Courier Journal asked:

“How can the state or the city allow this to happen, and to permit millions of dollars of the public's money to be allocated and spent in shadowy backrooms, where Catholic bishops will have more influence than doctors or the people of this city?”

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CO Pharmacist Training on Emergency Contraception

MergerWatch is pleased to help fund a pharmacist training series on emergency contraception (EC) in Colorado this month. The training entitled Emergency Contraception: Dispensing Meds & Dispelling Myths will be taught by pharmacist Don Downing (University of Washington), a champion for increased availability of EC in the pharmacy setting. Co-presenting the legal and policy issues on EC unique to Colorado will be representatives from Prevention First Colorado, a coalition of state organizations that support women & girl's reproductive health

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Big Victory! AZ Hospital Board Calls off Affiliation with Catholic Health System

MergerWatch is celebrating a big victory this month! A rural community in Arizona will no longer be subjected to restricted care at the only hospital in a 3-county area. Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, an independent hospital in Southeastern Arizona, announced it has ended a controversial trial affiliation with Carondelet Health Network, a Catholic health system.

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First Person to Be Treated with Embryonic Stem Cells Speaks Out

Last week 21-year old Timothy J. Atchison, the first person to be treated with an experimental drug made from human embryonic stem cells, was interviewed by the Washington Post. Atchison had become paralyzed from the chest down as a result of a car accident last fall and just weeks later was told by doctors that he fit the criteria for the experimental procedure.

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