“A letter sent last week by ACLU of Northern California pressing UC hospitals to sever all partnerships with Dignity Health is bad for patients,” said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association.
“Partnerships among and between hospitals and health systems are common in California, and are key to ensuring care for so many where specialty doctors and services are insufficient. Limiting hospital partnerships will limit care that Californians rely on today. California hospitals partner every day to provide mental health care, substance use disorder treatment, pediatric care, specialty services like cancer care in rural and underserved communities, telemedicine and more. By partnering, hospitals also are able to make sure the next generation of physicians are exposed to caring for a variety of patients and health conditions.
“UC and Dignity Health are the largest Medi-Cal providers in California, caring for the most vulnerable people in our state. ACLU’s overly-broad stance to preclude certain hospital partnerships will affect the poorest of Californians and efforts to improve public health.”