An affront to Sacred Heart

I am not and have never been of the Catholic faith. I am a retired gastroenterologist who practiced medicine in Spokane for 22 years, and served a year as medical staff president at Sacred Heart Medical Center.

At no time did Catholic ethical standards of SHMC interfere with my ability to care for patients. On the contrary, I was most fortunate that Sister Peter Claver provided a state-of-the-art medical facility that ran well under Catholic ethical values that were enforced.

A recent decision by the Obama administration places a significant financial burden upon institutions like SHMC if they do not abrogate longstanding, well-established ethical principles held sacred by the Catholic Church.

That decision is a needless, unwarranted affront upon an institution that has served our community well for many years, and upon people of our community served well by that institution.

Gene Grossmann

Spokane