Hospital Sues Over Whether It Is A Public Agency-- Church-State Implications

As previously reported, church-state questions are being raised in Kentucky regarding the agreement for the proposed merger of Louisville's University Hospital with two other Kentucky health care systems to create a state-wide network that would be controlled by Catholic Health Initiatives. All of the participating hospitals have agreed to follow Catholic health care policies. The University claims that the hospital is not a public institution so that the church-state issue is irrelevant. Now, according to yesterday's Louisville Courier-Journal, a related state lawsuit has been filed that will bear on that question.  The ACLU and various news organizations have requested documents related to the merger under the state's open records law, and the attorney general last month ruled that the hospital is a public entity that is subject to that law. Now University Hospital has sued to avoid turning over records on the ground that it is not a public agency subject to the open records requirements, but instead is a private non-profit corporation.