OLYMPIA, Wash. – A policy which would have given Washington’s Attorney General new powers to limit mergers between religious and secular hospitals did not make it through the State Legislature during the 2024 legislative session.
SB 5241, referred to by advocates as the Keep Our Care Act, did not make it to the floor for a final vote in the House before the end of session this biennium.
The policy was a response to several high-profile healthcare mergers in Washington, and would have given the Attorney General greater discretion over proposed combinations of secular and religious healthcare networks.
The American Civil Liberties Union opposed a merger between the Franciscan healthcare network and Virginia Mason in 2021, citing Franciscan’s lack of reproductive and gender-affirming care. A similar merger between Swedish and Providence healthcare networks occurred in 2012.
The policy was supported by Spokane’s Spectrum Center and Planned Parenthood.
Despite passing the State Senate and making it through committee in the House, SB 5241 never made it to the floor for a final vote. If legislators want to try and pass the bill next session, it will need to be completely reintroduced under a new bill number.
