ACLU visits Skagit health care meeting

MOUNT VERNON — Grassroots citizen group People for Healthcare Freedom gathered about 70 people into a meeting room at Skagit PUD on a sunny Friday evening to discuss the future of their local health care.

The health care landscape in Skagit could change dramatically over the next few years, with public hospitals joining up with large nonprofit hospital systems. Three public hospital districts in Skagit and Snohomish counties are seeking a larger partnership, and a fourth already has one in the works.

United General Hospital in Sedro-Woolley plans to be operated by PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, a Catholic institution, by July 2014. Under their agreement, PeaceHealth will lease United’s facilities and equipment for $10 a year. That partnership still needs the state’s blessing; the Department of Health expects to issue a decision Monday.

Skagit Valley, Cascade Valley and Island hospitals are together seeking a partner of their own. They will choose among two Catholic systems (PeaceHealth and Providence Health & Systems/Swedish Health Systems) and two secular ones (UW Medicine and Virginia Mason Medical Center).

If one of the Catholic partners is chosen, all the hospitals in Skagit, Whatcom and San Juan counties will be religiously affiliated.

This type of monopoly on health care in a region is part of what got People for Healthcare Freedom started, and it now has the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which has called public-religious hospital partnerships unconstitutional.

“This is unprecedented across the country,” said Sarah Dunne, legal director at the ACLU of Washington. “We’re unaware of any other state having the number of transactions we’re having in Washington.”

Representatives from the ACLU and Mount Baker Planned Parenthood advised attendees at Friday’s meeting on how to advocate for themselves to hospital district commissioners as they choose a partner.

Get things in writing, they told the crowd. Do your research. Ask questions.

The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services forbid Catholic hospitals from providing services Washington state law allows, including contraceptives, sterilization, abortion, fertility treatments and aid in dying (aka Death with Dignity).

“How is it they think their directives trump the laws of the state of Washington? Why can’t we just pull their licenses?” asked Carol Kenz of Clinton, during a question-and-answer period. “This is not a religious state. They don’t get to say. We get to say.”

Private religious organizations can choose what kinds of services to provide, or not provide. But the hospital district commissioners have said they do not intend to let any services currently offered at the hospitals be stopped.

Clark Todd, president of the Skagit Valley Hospital board of commissioners, reiterated that point Friday night and explained the timeline for the three hospitals’ decision going forward. The boards will meet with their hired consultants Thursday, May 9, “to get the first real hard analysis as a group” of the proposals, he said.

A committee composed of commissioners, CEOs and CFOs from the hospitals will hear presentations from the four potential partners later this month.

“This is where we’re going to be asking the hard questions,” Todd said.

Those presentations are closed — not enough commissioners will be present from the boards to require them, under the state open-meetings law, to be open to the public. But proposals from the four potential partners are available on skagitvalleyhospital.org.

Dunne told the crowd that while the ACLU is certainly not afraid to go to court when necessary, her organization was merely there to offer information and advice.

“Litigation should be the last resort,” she said. “Communities should be at the forefront.”

— Reporter Gina Cole: 360-416-2148, gcole@skagitpublishing.com, Twitter: @Gina_SVH, facebook.com/byGinaCole