1) You need a doctor who really cares about YOU: Doctors and other healthcare professionals are trying to keep a lot of people happy– employers, drug companies, the government. You need a doctor who cares about YOU and your health. Find a doctor who answers to you and God, not their employer. Independent physicians have a healthy doctor-patient relationship. Employed physicians are worried about meeting the quotas and politics of their employer, or staying within pharmaceutical contracts.
2) You need to choose your own doctor: Don’t let your insurance company or your local health system or anyone else define the list of heathcare professionals you can use. You need to choose your own clinicians.
3) Secular healthcare is not inclusive of Catholicism: Secular health systems and insurance companies want you to believe a lie– that they are inclusive of Catholic values and Catholic approaches to medical treatment. It’s not true. Many large secular companies will not hire healthcare professionals who practice in accordance with Catholic teaching. Many hospitals and health systems require physicians to sign bylaws that are against Catholic healthcare teaching. Insurance companies ask clinicians to indicate if they offer services against Catholic teaching. These same organizations are not focused on providing culturally competent care from a Catholic perspective, including mental health services, fertility care, and much more.
4) Keep politics out of healthcare: When push comes to shove, you need a doctor who answers to God, not political pressures.
5) You need to find a doctor who looks for the root cause of disease, and does not just throw pharmaceuticals at symptoms: Insurance companies pay more money if you see many patients rapidly than if you spend the same amout of time providing comprehensive care to one patient. If you really want comprehsive care, either find a concierge physician or find a physician that answers to God, not their employer or the insurance companies.
6) You need a doctor who respects God’s natural order and balance: Often the best diagnostics take time and money. And the best treatments are not always pharmaceutical. Doctors who practice this way get cut from healthsystems because they are not bringing in enough money.
7) You need a doctor who isn’t going to recommend objectively evil care: A faithful Catholic doctor is never going to refer you or anyone else for abortion, contraception, euthanasia, or other ilicit services. They will respect your role as a parent to be the decision maker for your children.
8) You do not want to financially support evil: Many people choose ethical coffee, don’t you want to spend your money supporting ethical healthcare?
9) Jesus was a healer. Don’t you want a healer who follows Jesus? Never under-estimate the power of God to heal, even though modern medicine. I believe health care providers need to be praying for the strength and guidance of God that the care they provide will be healing and bring glory to God. You need a physician who is praying for God’s guidance as he or she cares for you.
10) It is futile to heal the body and not the soul. The suffering of physical illness is a universal human experience. Through this suffering, our souls can be healed.
Written by:
Kathleen Berchelmann, M.D.
