Regina Hospital in Hastings. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Regina Hospital in Hastings will merge with United Hospital 25 miles away in St. Paul this August under one hospital license for the two campuses, simplifying patient transfers and billing for the institutions already owned by Allina Health.

The new arrangement will not impact the Catholic identity that has been part of Regina Hospital since its founding in 1953 by the Sisters of Charity, Our Lady Mother of Mercy, officials said.

“It’s part of our culture, who we are, and it’s how we serve our patients,” said Helen Strike, Regina Hospital president. As part of its “Catholicity,” the hospital provides “a strong spiritual care team” facilitated by the hospital chaplain, and an employee-led “mission integration team” that “keeps close to our hearts our Catholic past and future,” such as celebrating Catholic Heritage Week.

United Hospital, the largest hospital in the Twin Cities east metropolitan area, serves more than 200,000 patients a year, according to Allina’s website. It has been part of Allina since the 1990s.

The Sisters of Charity ran Regina until 1991, when they transferred the hospital to the community of Hastings. The 57-bed hospital joined Allina in 2014, creating “all the positive things about being part of a health care system,” Strike said, such as contracts with vendors that helped the hospital get through COVID-19 supply chain challenges in a way that might not be possible for a small, independent hospital.

Now, Regina’s merger with United means “you behave like you’re part of the same hospital,” Strike said. “So, when (Regina) patients need higher levels of care, or when they need to move back and forth between the campuses for procedures or to recover, we just transfer them versus having to admit them in one place and discharge, and then admit and discharge in the other (facility).”

Merging with United will not impact Regina’s Catholic identity, said Lynn Moratzka, who serves on Regina’s community board as a representative of the Regina Health Care Board, which reports to Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The Health Care Board helps ensure that Allina follows a 13-page Catholic Stewardship Agreement it signed with Regina in 2014, Moratzka said.

The agreement includes ethical and religious directives, “all the things that were in effect and operating at the time that (Allina) agreed to take over the responsibilities of the hospital, that they would continue doing those,” Moratzka said. The directives include adhering to ethical and religious directives for health care services approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and to specific situations under the guidance of the archbishop.

“We wanted to make sure that nothing was changing,” Moratzka said. “There would still be Regina in the name, all of the symbols, the statues, … the chaplains — all of those things that are part of our identity, and they will continue to be part of our identity.”

As a Catholic hospital, it’s also “our Christian faith and duty to provide these services for everybody,” Moratzka said. “We don’t discriminate in any way for people who are Catholic, not Catholic, any other religion or no religion. Our goal is to provide the best health care we can, following the ethical and religious directives that are established and that we have always followed.”

Allina owns 11 hospitals, two of which are Catholic — Regina and St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee, which is sponsored by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth.

 

RETAINING CATHOLIC CARE

Allina Health and Regina Hospital’s Catholic Stewardship Agreement includes working to maintain:

  • Catholic religious symbols and artwork
  • A dedicated Catholic chapel for the benefit of patients, staff and families
  • A Catholic chaplain, director of pastoral care and a department with at least 2 full-time equivalent employees
  • “Regina” in the hospital name
  • Prayer as an activity for those who wish to participate
  • Relationships with local Catholics and other clergy
  • Community benefit and charity care programs consistent with the facility owner’s corporate policies for similar facilities
  • Facilities providing exceptional care faithful to Regina’s Catholic traditions of respect for human life as staff prevent illness, restore health and provide comfort