The proposed sale of two Exempla Healthcare hospitals — troubled by competing ethics concerns — won approval from state Attorney General John Suthers today.
Suthers ruled the transfer of Lutheran and Good Samaritan hospitals wouldn’t violate state laws regulating nonprofit institutions.
The ruling was sought by the Exempla board of directors, which opposed the sale.
Suthers ruled that the Catholic health organization the Sisters of Charity Leavenworth Health System could change the current offerings at the hospitals and prevent them from providing abortions and forms of sterilization, such as tubal ligation and vasectomies.
“The General Assembly mandated that a single, narrow standard of review should apply in nonprofit-to-nonprofit hospital transfers,” Suthers said in a statement.
“I recognize the strong emotional and political concerns surrounding this transfer, but per the statute, those concerns cannot alter the legal standard of review,” Suthers said.
The decision allows the transfer to proceed without further review by the Department of Law.
The sale remains the subject of a lawsuit seeking to block the deal that was filed in Boulder District Court and independent of Suthers’ review.
Suthers reviewed the sale at the request of the Exempla board, which had supported the sale until it became clear that the Sisters of Charity would follow the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver’s strict interpretation of ethics principles regarding reproductive issues.
Chuck Plunkett: 303-954-1333 or cplunkett@denverpost.com
