Catholic Health Association of the United States

The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) was founded in 1915 as the Catholic Hospital Association of the United States and Canada. The association has offices in Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri.

Description

The association is a ministry of the Roman Catholic Church. Comprising more than 600 hospitals and 1,400 long-term care and other health facilities in all 50 states, the association is the largest group of non-profit health care providers in the nation.

Every year, one in six hospitalized patients in the United States is cared for in a Catholic health care facility. In addition, thousands of elders in the U.S. live and are cared for in Catholic long-term care and other continuum of care facilities.

The association is led by Sister Carol Keehan, a member of the Daughters of Charity, who assumed her duties as president and chief executive officer in 2005.

Controversy

CHA created a controversy within the Catholic Church when it disagreed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and came out in support of Barack Obama's health care overhaul, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[1] The USCCB believed the overhaul could provide for taxpayer funded abortion; the CHA said this was a "false claim".[2] CHA was criticized for subverting the bishops' authority. At least one bishop, Thomas Joseph Tobin of the Diocese of Providence, withdrew his diocese's hospitals from membership in the CHA, saying, "Your enthusiastic support of the legislation, in contradiction of the bishops of the United States, provided an excuse for members of Congress, misled the public and caused a serious scandal for many members of the church" and said it was "embarrassing" to be associated with the CHA.[3]

Cardinal Francis George, who was president of the USCCB at the time, reported that he and other bishops tried to reach out to Keehan both before and after the vote; he also said that in choosing Obama over the bishops, she had "weakened the moral voice of the bishops in the U.S."[4]

References
  1. "Religious Groups Fear Health Law's Birth Control Loophole Too Narrow". Fox News. 7 August 2011.
  2. "Catholic Hospitals, Bishops Split On Health Care Bill". National Public Radio. March 17, 2010.
  3. "Bishop bans RI hosps from pro-health reform group". Omaha World-Herald. 2010-03-19. Archived from the original on 2012-09-12.
  4. "Cardinal George: Sr. Keehan chose Obama over Catholic bishops". Catholic News Agency. June 16, 2010.
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