The bylaws for a new health clinic at Washington State University-Spokane will be amended to ensure the care and education provided within is free of religious health directives. Providence Health Care made the announcement Friday, two days after the American Civil Liberties Union urged the WSU Board of Regents to ensure separation of church and state.The ACLU wrote the BOR about the clinic's bylaws, concerned that the clinic would not provide contraception, birth control, and certain end-of-life care because of it's ties to the Catholic health provider, Providence.
The Spokane Teaching Health Center is a consortium of WSU Spokane, Providence Health Care, and Empire Health Foundation. The clinic at WSU-Spokane is scheduled to open in 2016. It will provide health and dental care to primarily low-income patients, staffed by doctors and medical students completing their residency requirement.