DENVER—An arbitrator has blocked the sale of two nonsectarian hospitals to a health system that follows Roman Catholic church guidelines that ban emergency contraceptions and other procedures the hospitals offer, Exempla Healthcare said Saturday.
The decision involving two Denver-area Exempla hospitals apparently had little to do with differing values but with state laws governing nonprofit organizations like Exempla.
Exempla, which operates three Denver-area hospitals, was formed in 1998 by the Catholic Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System and Community First Foundation.
The foundation had proposed selling its membership stake in the nonsectarian Exempla Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge and Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette to Sisters of Charity for $311 million. Both hospitals offer services like emergency contraception that would have ended if they were controlled by the Catholic system.
Exempla didn’t release details of the arbitrator’s decision, but CEO Jeff Selberg said the arbitrator ruled that Community First Foundation couldn’t receive payment for transfer of the hospitals.
The decision means patients won’t notice any differences for now.
Selberg said the parties are looking at the next steps. “It would be a surprise to me if CFF were to forgo any value for their membership,” Selberg said.
Community First Foundation and Sisters of Charity did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment Saturday night.
Exempla also operates St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, which is owned by Sisters of Charity and operates under Catholic directives.
Exempla had sued to block the transfer of Lutheran and Good Samaritan, partly over concerns for patients who might request services that would have ended, and a judge sent the case to an arbitrator.
Exempla argued that Lutheran and Good Samaritan should remain nonsectarian, but the arbitrator decided its arguments on that issue wouldn’t block the sale, Selberg said.
