Saint Vincent's Hospital is negotiating with an obstetrician and an urologist to join its medical group, with offices in St. Vincent's Physicians' Building. Both will be identified as employees of St. Vincent's. They understand that in accordance with the ERDs they will not be permitted to perform tubal ligations or vasectomies in the medical center or in their offices. Both have raised questions regarding their continued ability to provide the services that they consider to be medically appropriate. Both want to be able to continue performing sterilizations. At present, both think that they can find another venue apart from St. Vincent's in which to do this and ask if this would be permitted. Both doctors have also raised the question regarding how to obtain provider numbers to use in billing for their services, if they must find an outside venue.
In addition, the obstetrician has a question regarding her being able to continue prescribing contraceptives and to insert IUDs in her office. Although she does not agree with the moral position of the Catholic Church, she wants to be part of the medical group and understands that St. Vincent's is a Catholic organization. She also believes that it is important to enter any agreement with the hospital with integrity. However, she also thinks that it is an imposition on her patients to tell them to go elsewhere for either contraceptive prescriptions or for an IUD. To find a compromise, she has suggested that she and the hospital find a formula in which she technically leases back her office from St. Vincent's during those times in which she performs these tasks. (Courtesy of Catholic Health Initiatives).