Residents fear religion’s role in care at St. Vincent

Execs strive to ease worries that hospital service with be altered under Christus partnership

Sue Vorenberg | The New Mexican

1/16/2008 - 1/17/08

Nobody likes being told what to do — especially when it could override personal, private decisions about their health.

So perhaps it's natural that many of the 75 or so people voiced concerns at a Wednesday night meeting about the proposed partnership between St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and the Catholic organization Christus Health.

• Don't let the church override our right to pull the plug if we're critically ill and don't want to be revived, they said.

• Don't let the church withhold emergency contraception, or let an injured woman die to save her fetus.

• Don't let the church force doctors to counsel patients in pain to contemplate the suffering of Jesus rather than give them medication that might help them but also shorten their lives.
  

"I just don't think there's any place for that in medical care," said Pat Getz, a resident of Santa Fe for 21 years, staring at a table full of suit-and-tie-clad top executives from St. Vincent and Christus.

Don't worry, was the response. That's not what will happen, said a chorus of St. Vincent board chairman Dave Gunderson, St. Vincent chief executive officer Alex Valdez and Christus Health CEO Thomas Royer.

"We will honor advance directives," Gunderson said, referring to living wills and do-not-resuscitate orders.

"We are not going to interfere in the patient-doctor relationship," Valdez said.

"We know that these issues are very challenging," Royer said. "Our track record is very strong. We want to make sure people have their directives carried out."

The benefit for St. Vincent of joining in a 50-50 partnership with Christus is it will let the hospital expand and provide more services, especially as members of the baby-boom generation near retirement and have greater need for health care, Valdez said. "We know we're going to have to figure out how to grow to meet the increased demand," he said. "Not only is our population growing, not only is it aging, but it's going to live longer."

The investment by Christus also will remove $37 million in debt the hospital carries from projects such as its cancer center and emergency department remodeling.

What Christus gets is a chance to expand into a new area and a growing community, Royer said.

And the religious directives from the Catholic church? The partners are putting in place a separate company to offer care the hospital couldn't give without violating church policies. And patients still will be offered all the same services the hospital offers today, Valdez and Royer said.

"Actually, I'm not Catholic, and I'm the team leader for Christus Health," Royer said, reassuring the audience. "We respect living wills, we respect the rights of the family and we certainly respect New Mexico laws."

One thing included in the Catholic Church's directives is caring for all comers — including people who might have entered the United States illegally, Royer said.

But part of Christus' guidelines for the hospitals it operates seemed suspicious to Paul Kovnat, a doctor at St. Vincent who was in the audience. That part basically says that if a patient's pain can't be controlled, the patient should be instructed in the Christian concept of redemptive suffering, Kovnat paraphrased.

After reading the sentence from the guidelines, Royer said his group's intent is not to withhold pain control. "Pain control is absolutely key in our list," he said. "I don't see anything that says we don't support pain management treatment."

Still, the meeting wasn't all contentious.

A handful of community members approached the microphone to say they felt lucky that St. Vincent is planning for the future and trying to deal with growing medical care issues before they get out of hand.

And there's still time for more comments.

If the two groups reach an agreement, the partnership likely will be solidified in the first week of February, said Arturo Delgado, a spokesman for St. Vincent.

In the meantime, anybody in the community can pose questions or voice concerns at St. Vincent's Web site: www.stvin.org.

Contact Sue Vorenberg at 986-3072 or svorenberg@sfnewmexican.com.