Dixon’s KSB Hospital merger with Catholic organization sparks reproductive healthcare concerns

DIXON — Some Dixon residents say they are concerned about restrictions on reproductive healthcare services as the former KSB Hospital undergoes a merger with OSF HealthCare.

The hospital’s partnership with OSF was made official May 10, when the two organizations announced in a news release that they’d signed a term sheet and expected a full merger.

[ Dixon’s KSB Hospital, OSF HealthCare enter official partnership, anticipating full merger ]

OSF will officially take over operations Wednesday, Jan. 1. KSB will be renamed OSF HealthCare Saint Katharine Medical Center, becoming the 17th hospital in the OSF ministry.

Although its merger with OSF comes with a significant amount of funding, a total of $40 million - something that KSB desperately needs to keep its doors open - it also comes with significant changes to policies.

As a Catholic healthcare organization, OSF abides by the directives set forth in the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Service. After Jan. 1, OSF Saint Katharine will abide by them as well, Paul Acro, media coordinator at OSF HealthCare, said in an interview with Shaw Local.

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Alex Hartman (left) and Scott Coots work to remove the signage of the former KSB Hospital Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Dixon. Changing of all the signs on the campus is expected to take a few months. (Alex T. Paschal)

Within those directives, Sarah Schlegel, president of PFLAG Sauk Valley in Sterling, pointed out many limitations to healthcare services that “terrify” her “for a whole host of reasons,” Schlegel wrote in a letter to Shaw Local.

“It’s too bad we’re going to have some restricted services due to OSF being Catholic,” Linda Wegner of Dixon said in an interview with Shaw Local. “I am especially concerned about women’s reproductive care. There’s going to be some services for some people that they’re not going to be able to get.”

“You almost have to ask ahead of time what services they do or do not provide before you get started with a doctor here because you wouldn’t want to get into it and waste his time, her time, or your time and money and then have to go somewhere else,” Wegner said.

Terminating a pregnancy

One of Schlegel’s concerns is the hospital’s limitations around performing medical and surgical abortions.

The ERD defines “abortion” as the “directly intended termination of pregnancy before viability or the directly intended destruction of a viable fetus,” according to the booklet.

“Abortion is never permitted,” directive No. 45 says.

In an email interview with OSF HealthCare, the organization said, “in Catholic health care, respect for human life and dignity prevents us from participating in directly intended abortion. We provide medically indicated treatment for women experiencing serious health issues, ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages to save the woman’s life and preserve her health.”

Medical birth control and contraceptive practices

Schlegel also pointed out that Catholic healthcare organizations are also limited in the methods they can offer to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Wegner said she was concerned that the hospital wouldn’t perform “something as simple as a tubal ligation” which is a surgical procedure for women that permanently prevents pregnancy.

“If a person wants to have a baby and have that procedure, they wouldn’t be able to give birth here because who wants to go back and do it again? Nobody wants to have their last baby and then have to go somewhere else and do surgery again. It’s just easy to take care of it at the same time,” Wegner said.

“Catholic health institutions may not promote or condone contraceptive practices,” according to ERD directive No. 52.

That includes medical birth control methods like taking prescribed medication, getting an implantation and procedures including a tubal ligation and a vasectomy, according to directives 52 and 53.

Instead, “Catholic health care supports reliable, fertility awareness-based methods of family planning rather than sterilization to prevent pregnancy. We offer modern, evidence-based methods,” OSF HealthCare said.

Those types of methods involve monitoring a woman’s physical signs throughout her menstrual cycle to determine when ovulation is occurring to prevent pregnancy.

Infertility treatment and alternatives

On the other hand, woman who are struggling to get pregnant also have limited options, Schlegel wrote.

The ERD says on page 16, “reproductive technologies that substitute for the marriage act are not consistent with human dignity.”

That includes the use of a surrogate mother; heterologous fertilization, a method of assisted reproduction where genetic material from a third-party donor is used to achieve pregnancy; and any method that attempts to achieve pregnancy through extracorporeal conception, which refers to the process of fertilization happening outside of the body, including homologous artificial fertilization which uses the genetic material from the couple, according to directives 40, 41 and 42.

Instead, OSF Saint Katharine will offer fertility care through the Creighton Model FertilityCare System, which tracks reproductive health issues and Natural Procreative Technology used to treat them.

The technology “monitors and maintains a woman’s gynecologic and reproductive health and offers medical and surgical treatments that cooperate completely with the reproductive system,” OSF HealthCare said.

“This approach helps to restore health and function so that conception can occur within its natural context. The methods used respect the life and dignity of the spouses and any children conceived,” OSF HealthCare said.

Other options for healthcare in Dixon

“I think the lack of options is concerning,” Wegner said. “I was born and raised Catholic, but I just think it shouldn’t enter into people getting services, especially in a rural community where we don’t have a lot of choices, unless we drive and go to another hospital.”

“We all want to attract new young families here to Dixon, but these restricted policies could deter that as well,” Wegner said.

One alternative could be CGH Medical Center, which is mainly located in Sterling, but provides women’s healthcare services, along with many others, at its Dixon location on North Galena Avenue.

The Dixon clinic can offer all forms of birth control to those who are an established patient and perform outpatient birth control procedures like implantable birth control and intrauterine devices or IUDs, Vanessa Simonton, director of OB/GYN service line at CGH, said in an interview with Shaw Local.

However, tubal ligations and vasectomies are only performed at its locations in Sterling, according to Simonton.

Providers at the Dixon clinic will also assist with fertility treatments and will provide prenatal care for surrogate pregnancies. However, patients may be referred to a specialized fertility center if more in-depth care is required, Simonton said.

Following conception, all prenatal care, including ultrasound, can be done at the Dixon clinic, but patients can only give birth at the medical center in Sterling, Simonton said.

As for terminating a pregnancy, it “is only performed in emergent situations, such as an ectopic pregnancy where the mother’s life is at risk,” Simonton said.

OSF HealthCare officials says patients should feel free to discuss any health concerns or questions with their healthcare professionals at OSF.

“Our physicians and advance practice providers are committed to helping patients make informed decisions, which entails discussing the range of options available to patients, as well as expected benefits, risks, burdens, and any potential side effects,” OSF HealthCare said.