Caritas Holy Family Hospital in Methuen pictured on far right of second row.

From the 2nd Floor / St. Raphael’s wing at Holy Family Hospital – A Caritas Family Hospital – located in Methuen in the Merrimack Valley, I’m reading yet more articles in today’s Globe about the Cerberus proposal to take over the struggling Catholic hospital heathcare system. Today there is a focus on adding another hospital to the six-hospital system which does not currently operat under a Catholic designation – Landmark Medical Center of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Opponents of this purchase bemoan the loss of  “access to services” to women in the area. Couple this concern with the position of advocates for keeping “Catholic hospitals Catholic” and we see another caustic view of this proposal beyond the turning of a non-profit, community institution serving so many into a for-profit entity beholden to stockholders and the bottom line. The challenges for Attorney General Martha Coakley in her oversight role are critical and will affect heathcare and delivery of  healthcare services  for thousands in the decades to come.

Read the article in today’s Globe here.

My disclosure: I had hip-replacement surgery here at Holy Family Hospital  followed by a stay in rehab also here at HFH. With the excellent surgeon and the terrific team approach to follow-up and rehab I’m scheduled to go home tomorrow. I didn’t have to leave the Merrimack Valley to get an excellent result and excellent care. Eleven nights! Thanks to all who encouraged me to have the surgery and to those who made it work. mps