#news

A Penn State Health medical facility denied a patient a gender-affirming surgery (it had already scheduled!) because the patient is nonbinary. The stated reason is because the facility (St. Joseph) has a "Catholic healing mission that guides [it]."

Penn State Health is a nonprofit spinoff created by Penn State University (and partially owned by Highmark). Though I did not work directly for PSH, my direct manager did (the lines between Penn State College of Medicine and PSH are weird). When they were first looking to acquire St. Joe's, a number of us (queer folk, women) who shared the demographics of those who might be impacted were worried about exactly this sort of thing.

PSH claims they "are committed to providing services that lead to healthier outcomes for our patients and a more respectful, supportive, inclusive and productive work environment for our employees." Unless you're trans in Berks County, apparently!

But the real answer as to why they did it is they wanted to be in the market, and buying St Joe's was the fastest/cheapest way to accomplish that. St. Joe's refused to be acquired unless they were allowed keep their "Catholic tradition" as the guiding force behind their actions.

PSH should have said no. If St. Joe's still balked and closed as a result, PSH could have bought the building and hired staffers who wanted to serve the entire region's population, not just those who agree with the religious tenets the former institution believed in.

Instead, PSH chased the money. Though I value my former coworkers (and believe most, if not all, of the ones I directly worked with would rather provide care to everyone at all facilities), I'm ashamed to have been associated, even tangentially, with such an organization.