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Collaboration Is Key: A Study On The Religious Identity Of Catholic And Southern Baptist Hospitals, Benjamin German

History Capstone Research Papers

Since its inception, the Christian church has emphasized physical healing alongside spiritual healing. The Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists established their first hospitals in America in the mid-nineteenth and late-nineteenth centuries respectively. While a number of hospitals bear the names Catholic or Baptist, they do not all necessarily possess the same religious character they once did. This research paper compares and contrasts the hospital ministries of the two Christian sub-groups. It concludes that Roman Catholic hospitals have stayed more true to their religious identity than Southern Baptist hospitals. Since the 1980s, hospitals have formed healthcare networks in mass, a trend …