Competition or cooperation: theological and historical views

The spirit of competition that has recently invaded health care actually dates back to the garden of Eden, and its unbridled application in industrialized society has been viewed with grave reservations by the Church. A number of papal encyclicals have condemned the usurpation of the working person's human rights by the profit motive of employers, and yet now a similar phenomenon may occur in health care: the strangling of the patient's interests by providers' grab for the dollar. Through solidarity and cooperation, however, the Catholic health system can help to keep this scenario from becoming a reality, and can in fact ensure that competition becomes the inspiring, creative, and productive force that it should be. The system's largely untapped resources and potentiality are the envy of for-profit providers, and can be a powerful force in advancing God's kingdom. But first Catholic providers must learn to cooperate not only with each other but with those with whom they disagree in many respects.