Mayo opens a “special procedures” clinic in Onalaska, Franciscan Skemp "to retain its Catholic identity"

Franciscan Skemp

Last spring Mayo in Rochester, MN decided to ... well, continue performing abortions and Bishop Quinn declaring Mayo Clinic's Saint Mary's Hospital no longer designated "Catholic health care institution." 

Side note: Did I ever mention I used to work at Mayo Clinic in Rochester?  Years ago, doing IT.

And for those of you following along at home Mayo Health Systems kind of sort of owns La Crosse's Franciscan Healthcare, originally founded by the FSPA.

A really well written article by the La Crosse Trib:

Mayo Clinic Health System will reopen an Onalaska clinic on Friday as a “special procedures” facility to offer sterilizations.

The vasectomies for men and Essure contraceptive implants for women “will be under the umbrella of the Mayo Clinic Health System rather than Franciscan Healthcare,” said Rick Thiesse, spokesman for La Crosse-based Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare.

The arrangement is intended to allow Mayo-Franciscan, which Mayo and Franciscan Healthcare co-sponsor, to retain its Catholic identity, Thiesse said.

He noted the “sensitive matter of these special outpatient-based sterilization procedures.”

Catholic hospitals are required to follow the U.S. bishops’ Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services, a 43-page document that sets care guidelines but bans abortion and sterilization.

continue at LAXTrib 

It should be noted that Mayo-Franciscan does prescribe oral contraception, and yes, sometimes pushing it immediately after childbirth, but clearly a sign of some life here in La Crosse healthcare.  

The Diocese of La Crosse issued a statement in conjunction:

MAYO CLINIC HEALTH SYSTEM ANNOUNCES WELL STREET CLINIC

Mayo Clinic Health System announced the opening of a special procedure clinic in Onalaska. This announcement is the result of several years of proactive collaborative work between the last three bishops of the Diocese of La Crosse, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, and the administration, staff, many doctors, and the Mayo Clinic Health System.

One of the primary objectives in this collaborative work is to maintain the integrity of the Catholic hospital and its deep Franciscan tradition. Life is sacred and a gift from God. All medical procedures performed within a Catholic hospital must be in harmony with Catholic teaching.

This separate clinic available to the people of the La Crosse area, as such, will emphasize the distinction between the hospital’s procedures and protocols described in the Ethical and Religious Directives (ERDs) set forth by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and procedures found incongruous with Catholic teaching.

Well I think it's a win for Franciscan Healthcare.  Mayo instead of coercing Franciscan Skemp to perform "special procedures" will just open a clinic and do it themselves.  Now with that said, clearly they have the groundwork set to do abortions in Onalaska (Gunderson Lutheran right now is the only abortion provider in the area).  Since Mayo doesn't really have a principled ethical guideline on what procedures are acceptable, it's hard to say for what else this clinic will be used.  The facility is only a few blocks from the only Catholic church in Onalaska.