List date(s) this work was published or aired.
6/12/11, 7/31/11, 12/31/11
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Brief synopsis: Reporters Laura Ungar and Patrick Howington provided ongoing coverage and wrote a series of enterprise stories about the planned merger of three hospital systems in Louisville: University Hospital, Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and St. Joseph Health System, which is owned by the Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives. The proposed merger generated intense controversy because CHI follows Catholic health directives that forbid procedures such as sterilizations, and the other merger partners agreed not to offer the banned services. This was especially concerning in the case of University Hospital, the city’s public safety-net hospital for the poor. It meant poor people, who have no other options for care, wouldn’t have access to certain services because of religious rules. Ultimately, after months of coverage by The Courier-Journal exposing issues and concerns, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear rejected the merger.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Types of documents, resources: The stories required the use of many documents and other resources. These included financial statements for the partner hospitals, lawsuits in other states where secular-religious mergers had taken place, Supreme Court rulings on church-state issues, Catholic Ethical & Religious Directives, reports from the Louisville Board of Health and watchdog organizations such as MergerWatch, an economist’s report on the merger’s impact, reports by the state attorney general on the legality of the merger, past affiliation agreements involving the partner hospitals and the attorney general’s ultimate recommendation that the governor reject the merger. While the hospitals tried to keep records from the reporters, they ultimately received many merger documents through Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell, who requested them through open-records law. The reporters also requested merger documents through open-records law, but the public hospital did not release them to the reporters, arguing they are run by a private entity.
Explain types of human sources used.
Types of human sources: The reporters talked to many people who would be affected by the hospital merger, including poor women and those in need of the banned reproductive care. They also talked to women who have had sterilizations in the past to get their perspective, as well as family members of those facing end-of-life care, which also would have changed had the merger gone forward.
Results:
Results: After months of coverage, Attorney General Jack Conway recommended to Beshear that the merger be rejected, basing his decision on several issues that had been brought up in the newspaper– namely the potential conflict between church and state and the loss of a “public asset.” The two non-public hospitals, Jewish Hospital and Saint Joseph, ultimately did merge, but without University Hospital.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
None
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Advice: When hospitals try to keep information secret, do all you can to seek out the information– through open-records requests, inside sources, attorneys, advocates and others. Also, when examining a local merger, look at what has happened in similar instances in other states to put the issue in a larger perspective and examine potential problems.