With hospital mergers on the rise, women will suffer the loss of services from abortion to tubal ligation to birth control. Today’s Kaiser Daily Health Report discusses the issue in conjunction with the recent purchase of the former South Valley Hospital in Gilroy CA by Catholic Healthcare West, which now operates 46 hospitals in the state. The merger put an end to reproductive services in the facility.
Practitioners at the hospital submitted a letter to the editor of a local newspaper, opposing the limitations on services. The Santa Clara County Medical Association backed their effort, writing to San Jose’s bishop to argue that the move may drive women to “make unhealthy choices.” As another opponent to the move stated, poor women will be disproportionately affected by the limitations and will likely have to travel long distances to obtain reproductive health care.
