The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy is raising questions about a proposed deal between Massachusetts-based Catholic health system Covenant Health and Day Kimball Hospital in rural Putnam. If the deal is approved, the new owners would eliminate some reproductive health services at the hospital, The CT Mirror reports.
Under the terms of the deal, Covenant Health would acquire Day Kimball, bringing the struggling rural health care system into its larger network and absorbing tens of millions of dollars of its debt. Day Kimball is one of the few remaining independent hospitals in the state, and it has performed poorly financially relative to other Connecticut hospitals in recent years.
But the acquisition by a Catholic health system would mean Day Kimball has to adhere to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, or ERDs, which limit services related to reproductive health, emergency contraception, fertility, gender-affirming, end-of-life and other care. A similar proposal by Waterbury Hospital a decade ago fell apart after opposition from women’s reproductive rights advocates. Read more.
