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American Catholic Hospitals

A Century of Changing Markets and Missions

Barbra Mann Wall author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Rutgers University Press

Published:15th Jan '16

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

American Catholic Hospitals cover

In American Catholic Hospitals, Barbra Mann Wall chronicles changes in Catholic hospitals during the twentieth century, many of which are emblematic of trends in the American healthcare system.

Wall explores the Church's struggle to safeguard its religious values. As hospital leaders reacted to increased political, economic, and societal secularization, they extended their religious principles in the areas of universal health care and adherence to the Ethical and Religious Values in Catholic Hospitals, leading to tensions between the Church, government, and society. The book also examines the power of women--as administrators, Catholic sisters wielded significant authority--as well as the gender disparity in these institutions which came to be run, for the most part, by men. Wall also situates these critical transformations within the context of the changing Church policy during the 1960s. She undertakes unprecedented analyses of the gendered politics of post-Second Vatican Council Catholic hospitals, as well as the effect of social movements on the practice of medicine.

"Wall provides solid scholarship and engaging insight into the historic and contemporary contributions of American Catholic hospitals and their ability to adapt and serve amid the changing landscapes of church and state, culture wars, and healthcare reforms of the 20th century."
— Carol K. Coburn, Spirited Lives: How Nuns Shaped Catholic Culture and American Life, 1836-1920
"Wall traces the nursing and management roles of nuns and brothers in church-related US health care institutions. This well-documented volume will be a useful addition for collections supporting academic programs in public health, hospital administration, bioethics, and divinity, and for comprehensive collections in the history of medicine. Recommended."
— Choice
"American Catholic Hospitals is meticulously researched and well written. Although it is certainly appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate students, general readers also will find it to be an excellent overview of the history of the changes that Catholic health-care institutions have undergone in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."
— Catholic Historical Review
"In American Catholic Hospitals, Barbra Mann Wall traces the ways Catholic hospitals have accommodated changes both within the church and in society over the last century. Her book is well researched and a fascinating read."— Health Progress
"American Catholic Hospitals offers a tremendous amount of new material and refreshing perspectives on current health care system challenges in the United States."— Sioban Nelson, Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto
"Wall presents a compelling and well-documented narrative of the dynamic transformation of Catholic hospitals in twentieth-century America. Drawing on records from Catholic congregations throughout the United States, she reveals an admirable perseverance of religious caregivers, demonstrated by their willingness to adapt to socioeconomic forces often inimical to charitable care."
— American Catholic Studies
"American Catholic Hospitals is fair, balanced, insightful, and intriguing. The story Wall tells—a story about a significant segment of the US health care system—is meticulously documented. Readers will find her study to be illuminating, even inspirational."
— Journal of the American Medical Association

ISBN: 9780813576442

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 18mm

Weight: 510g

260 pages

First Paperback Edition