News Release, Published:
Tuesday, July 2, 2013On May 21, 2013, the ACLU of Washington and a group of concerned organizations called on Governor Jay Inslee to address the rapidly accelerating pace of religious hospital mergers in our state and their impact on patient access to lawful health care services, consistent with best medical practices and patients’ needs or interests and regardless of religious directives. In response, Governor Inslee today announced that he is issuing a directive to the Washington state Department of Health (DOH) to initiate rulemaking to modernize the Certificate of Need (CON) process, which he acknowledged "has not kept current with the changes in the health care delivery system."