Prevented care: The Catholic Church runs one-third of Wisconsin hospitals, putting many reproductive

Prevented care: The Catholic Church runs one-third of Wisconsin hospitals, putting many reproductive procedures off-limits

By Rikha Sharma Rani and Parker Schorr


When Ascension’s St. Joseph Hospital in Milwaukee announced it would cut back services in 2018, residents of the surrounding Sherman Park area balked.

The predominantly black, low-income neighborhood already faced its share of challenges. Nearly a third of residents in the ZIP code live in poverty, and black infants born there are more than twice as likely to die as white infants. Residents feared that reducing services would exacerbate these disparities, and even pave the way for the hospital to be shuttered completely.

They protested fiercely to keep services in place, and St. Joseph’s parent company, Ascension Wisconsin, eventually put the cuts on hold. St. Joseph Hospital works to maintain the community’s trust and fulfill the unmet social needs of patients, through programs such as Blanket of Love, which educates families about prenatal health, nutrition and exercise.

“It's an anchor institution there,” said Reggie Newson, chief advocacy officer at Ascension Wisconsin.

Read more: https://madison.com/ct/news/local/prevented-care-the-catholic-church-runs-one-third-of-wisconsin/article_444aad29-b692-5547-9f00-87014a5fa39f.html