By Sandra DiVarco, Kerrin Slattery and the Rev. William Grogan (September 5, 2018, 12:51 PM EDT) -- Catholic-sponsored and -operated health care facilities represent a considerable market segment of the United States' health care system, which is in the midst of significant and constant change. The Catholic Health Association recently reported 654 hospitals, 1,634 long-term care facilities and numerous outpatient practices and locations in operation as Catholic organizations.[1] This translates, based on this same report, to one out of every six patients on a given day receiving care in a Catholic hospital.[2] Two key factors are driving Catholic health care facilities and systems to seek affiliations, joint ventures and other transactions to preserve their mission and maintain health care services — the first being shifts in care modalities and reimbursement in the market at large necessitating consolidation, and the second being reduction in the numbers of women and men whose religious congregations have sponsored Catholic health care organizations....