Some Catholic Health Internet Drama To Brighten Your Day

First, a little backstory: In early November, I reported that Dr. Christine Doyle, one of two Ob/Gyns delivering babies in Dixon, IL, was forced out of her job by the Catholic Ethical Directives she was asked to abide by when the ultra-conservative OSF system bought her hospital. What once was the beloved community Katherine Shaw Bethea hospital became OSF Saint Katharine , and Dr. Doyle was told that she could no longer offer her patients many forms of birth control. Dr. Doyle could not square her moral compass with the poor and degrading care she was asked to give her patients.

As an Ob/Gyn myself in an underserved area, I thought, what a waste. These little rural community hospitals can’t recruit Ob/Gyns for love or money these days due to the Ob/Gyn shortage, and Dixon, IL was so lucky to have the gift of a young, excellent Ob/Gyn who was happy living in that community and whose patients adored her. They squandered it all to make the bishop happy.

I predicted that once Dr. Doyle left, it would be difficult for OSF to stay open. The one Ob/Gyn left in the community was nearing retirement and wanted to cut back. They were already relying on locums docs for 10 shifts per month.

Sure enough, Dr. Doyle’s last day at OSF was 12/31/2024.

On 2/6/25, the hospital went on OB bypass due to the lack of Ob/Gyns left at the hospital.   Patients in labor were moved from Labor and Delivery unit to the Emergency Department. Any pregnant patient stable enough to transfer was sent to another hospital several counties over.

I shared the story widely on Facebook, since it was such a tragic yet predictable outcome for the community

On  2/7/25, the hospital went back on normal function.

Then, the PR department of OSF Saint Katharine made… a choice.

They literally just went and posted this, as if they hadn’t just been on OB Bypass!

And the simmering rage of the people of Dixon, IL was unleashed. It turns out both men and women in Dixon were absolutely furious about the religious takeover of their health care system. And they kept receipts:

And this sweet summer child who gave props to the poor ED staff whose job suddenly became deliver babies safely, and we all know ED providers are not at all in a hurry to get laboring patients out of the ED ASAP, but nonetheless confirmed exactly what happened:

The “misinformation” post ultimately garnered 146 comments (as of today, 3/17/25), most of which were absolutely roasting the hospital’s new policies:

Oh snap!

(Which is how we cuss people out in the Midwest.)

And so on and so forth. Good men and women of Dixon, I am so sorry that your hospital was taken over by these assholes. Never stop being real.

By contrast, a typical OSF Saint Katharine post such as this one gets 0 comments.

As one community member mentioned,

As of 2/27/25, the post and all the comments are still up.

The funny thing is, OSF had no problem being dishonest about the OB situation at OSF Saint Katharine and just blithely posted about “misinformation,” as if nobody would notice that their loved ones were taken down to the ER to be delivered by presumably terrified ED doctors or transferred to Rockford. The vibes are of a reflexive move to lie when the truth is unflattering that has become second nature.

OSF St. Katharine is advertising for Ob/Gyn locums to cover 20 24-hour shifts per month.

If you love taking care of women, but hate letting them have birth control, this is a great place to practice.

I mean, it is a solid business model.

But let’s not forget the final question on their after-visit survey:

Because who wouldn’t want these people:

making your health care decisions instead of

these people?

You tell me.

Karla Solheim, MD, FACOG