The Regents meetings that start today have opportunities for public comments. It would be surprising if there weren't comments about the contracts UC Health has with religious hospitals that don't provide certain services such as abortions, since there have been such comments at other meetings.
On the other hand, the Health Services committee isn't meeting this week. It generally meets off-cycle and is not scheduled until mid-February. So, there is unlikely to be discussion by the Regents themselves this week. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
As the University of California’s health system renews contracts with hundreds of outside hospitals and clinics — many with religious affiliations — some of its doctors and faculty want stronger language to ensure that physicians can perform the treatments they deem appropriate, including abortions for women or hysterectomies for transgender patients. University of California Health is in the middle of a two-year process to renew contracts with affiliate hospitals and clinics that help the university deliver care in underserved parts of the state. Many of the agreements are with faith-based facilities, including prominent hospitals operated by Dignity Health, Providence, or Adventist Health. Such arrangements generate more than $20 million a year for the UC system and help the public university approach its goal of improving public health.
The current policy, adopted in 2021, states that UC physicians have the freedom to advise, refer, prescribe, or provide emergency care, covering cases in which moving a patient “would risk material deterioration to the patient’s condition.” But some UC doctors and faculty worry that physicians would be allowed to perform certain surgeries only in an emergency. They want to add a clause stating that physicians have the right to perform procedures in a manner they deem advisable or necessary without waiting for the patient’s condition to get worse.
Others have gone so far as to urge the university to reject partnerships with hospitals that have ethical and religious directives against sterilization, abortion, some miscarriage management procedures, and some gender-affirming treatments. The Academic Senate, a faculty body that helps the university set academic policies, and other faculty councils urged the university’s president to avoid working with health care facilities because many have restrictions that “have the potential for discriminatory impact on patients.” ...
Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/uc-health-faith-hospital-17714917.php.
Apart from this perennial issue, it will be interesting to see if there are comments at the Investments committee about the Blackstone deal which we have discussed in earlier postings.* We will know soon enough.
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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/01/does-it-pass-financial-sniff-test-part-2.html; http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2023/01/does-it-pass-financial-sniff-test.html.
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https://ia904704.us.archive.org/3/items/new-year-outlook/possible%20comments.mp3
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