# "Methodist" and "Baptist" hospitals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568 "2022-06-02T13:47:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/1 "2022-06-02T13:47:47Z")
Looking at a list of the largest US hospitals, i noticed that several of them have “Methodist” or “Baptist” in their names. I assume that today they would accept anyone of any religion (maybe obligated?). None on the list were labelled “Catholic”, however. Are these names kept by tradition, or does religion still play a part? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/2 "2022-06-02T13:52:16Z")
There are a lot of Catholic Hospitals and they don’t just cater to Catholics. Many are St. Soandso Hospital. [It looks like the Catholic Church owns about 14.5% of all acute care hospitals in the nation](https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/healthcare/number-catholic-hospitals-us-has-grown-22-since-2001). 1 data point: My Jewish MIL gave birth to my Jewish wife in a Catholic Hospital. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/3 "2022-06-02T13:55:45Z")
There are lots of Catholic hospitals. They will take patients of any religion, but there may be restrictions on the procedures performed, such as abortion or contraceptive surgery. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/4 "2022-06-02T13:56:25Z")
But religion does play a part. I worked for years for a Catholic organization that ran a medical clinic. No birth control services available-- pills, IUDs, even condoms. Needles to say, no abortions. Ninja’d. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/5 "2022-06-02T13:58:30Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > There are lots of Catholic hospitals. And a few Jewish ones too Long Island Jewish Hospital is pretty well known I think. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/6 "2022-06-02T14:10:31Z")
My GP and my endocrinologist are affiliated with Loyola Medicine, one of the big hospital/clinical networks in the Chicago area. The name doesn’t _sound_ Catholic, unless you are in the know that the organization (and the university with which they are affiliated) is named for St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was a Catholic priest, and one of the founders of the Jesuit order. And, as @What_Exit notes, a lot of Catholic hospitals are named “St. [Somebody],” rather than explicitly having the word “Catholic” in the name. Also, there are hospital networks in several regions of the country which go by “Adventist Health” or “AdventHealth” – those are affiliated with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/7 "2022-06-02T14:22:02Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Many are St. Soandso Hospital. [It looks like the Catholic Church owns about 14.5% of all acute care hospitals in the nation](https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/healthcare/number-catholic-hospitals-us-has-grown-22-since-2001). Nitpick, as your cite says, some of those Catholic hospitals are _affiliated_ with the Catholic Church but are not owned by it. And I wonder if the hospitals with Baptist or Methodist or whatever in their names do so because people might assume they’re Catholic hospitals? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/8 "2022-06-02T14:27:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And I wonder if the hospitals with Baptist or Methodist or whatever in their names do so because people might assume they’re Catholic hospitals? Possibly, i suppose, but, for example, I’m familiar with “Brookwood Baptist Health,” a hospital network in the Birmingham, Alabama area. The deep South (save for parts of Louisiana) isn’t particularly Catholic, but it is pretty heavily Baptist, so I’d be surprised if people in Birmingham would have had any thought that their hospital might have been affiliated with the Catholic Church. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/9 "2022-06-02T14:30:50Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And I wonder if the hospitals with Baptist or Methodist or whatever in their names do so because people might assume they’re Catholic hospitals? I think it’s more likely that Protestants just don’t have much use for saints. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/10 "2022-06-02T14:32:46Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I think it’s more likely that Protestants just don’t have much use for saints. That could be it, too. A Catholic-affiliated hospital can use the names of saints, religious orders, etc. to signal its affiliation (to those who care about such things), but Protestant-affiliated hospitals seem to be more likely to rely on the name of the denomination. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/11 "2022-06-02T14:39:39Z")
The one non-Roman Catholic denomination hospital I know of named for a saint names the denomination - St John’s Episcopal. Not sure if that was specifically to avoid confusion with a Roman Catholic St John’s that also existed or more generally to avoid assumptions that St X must be a RC hospital ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/12 "2022-06-02T15:54:47Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And I wonder if the hospitals with Baptist or Methodist or whatever in their names do so because people might assume they’re Catholic hospitals? Hardly. 🙄 Like any other religiously-affiliated organization, they will include the name of their religious affiliation in the name because it is integral to the mission of the hospital and they want the public to know this. I doubt if they give Catholics a thought. I also worked for a large Methodist health care system. Their mission statement includes, _“Serving Humanity to Honor God.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/13 "2022-06-02T17:31:29Z")
We have a hospital in Chicago that used to be named Swedish Covenant (the name of a particular Protestant denomination) until they recently dropped the “Covenant” and are now just “Swedish Hospital”. They do accept patients of all ethnic backgrounds, of course, and AFAIK the cafeteria does not serve lutefisk. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/14 "2022-06-02T17:46:56Z")
I know of a [Chinese hospital in San Francisco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Chinese_Hospital) and that Wikipedia article mentions ones in Toronto and Montreal. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/15 "2022-06-02T17:50:06Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > They do accept patients of all ethnic backgrounds, of course, and AFAIK **the cafeteria does not serve lutefisk.** Hospitals are for curing patients, not fish. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/16 "2022-06-02T17:57:40Z")
In the past, running hospitals and care of the sick, especially the chronically sick, was one of the functions of organised religion - there were no state-run hospitals. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/17 "2022-06-02T18:29:59Z")
Which is why plenty of UK NHS hospitals are St. Somebody’s, from their original foundation, but are entirely secular. Though they will usually have some sort of multi-faith chaplaincy available. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/18 "2022-06-02T18:35:47Z")
My mother spent her last days in a coma, after several heart attacks, at the local Catholic hospital. As I remember “pulling the plug”, or taking her off the respirator, was not an option. I don’t recall whether or not she was showing any signs of brain activity during this time, so I can’t say whether this was a factor in the policy. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/19 "2022-06-02T21:06:57Z")
The Jewish General Hospital in Montreal serves eveyone, although much of its funding comes from the local Jewish community. And yes - its cafeteria is strictly Kosher. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568/20 "2022-06-02T21:10:10Z")
I remember seeing a [Shabbat elevator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat_elevator) at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/methodist-and-baptist-hospitals/965568.md?page=2)