This article is 8 years old, but the article about a Catholic healthcare provider denying MAID services reminded me of it. i learned about it from a friend who is a researcher of medical/healthcare policy in the US.

Basically, when Catholic hospitals merge or are even bought out by secular providers in the states, the Catholic church inserts language into the contract (the property becomes “encumbered” I think is the term) to require facilities to follow / adopt Catholic restrictions in perpetuity. These restrictions can never be unwound and are generally hidden from public knowledge during the deal.

Since 2001, the number of acute care hospitals operating under Catholic doctrine has shot up 22 percent.

As Mindy Swank discovered, it’s often impossible to know when a secular hospital is operating under Catholic restrictions. Genesis became a zombie religious hospital in 1994, during a merger with Catholic Mercy Hospital in Davenport, Iowa. The trend has accelerated in recent years, as secular hospitals have joined forces with Catholic facilities in an effort to hold their own against insurance companies and to comply with requirements for greater collaboration under the Affordable Care Act. In five states—Alaska, Iowa, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin—more than 40 percent of acute care hospital beds now fall under Catholic doctrine.