The national health planning and resources development act: 1975

Abstract

Public Law 93-641, The National Health Planning and Resources Development Act, signed into law in January, 1975, created a new, all-inclusive health planning system that revised existing health planning programs and existing federal programs for the construction and modernization of health care facilities and combined both under the heading "health planning and development." It is a complex piece of legislation that attempts to establish an external health management system involving decision-making at the federal, state, and local or regional levels. Because of its scope and importance, it warrants multiple conversations among various disciplines?for example, legal, sociological, theo logical/moral. My sole purpose in this paper is to treat P.L. 93-641 only from a theological viewpoint, with specific emphasis on its moral and pastoral ramifica tions. My grounding will be within pastoral theology, a relatively recent disci pline in which "perspective" is extremely important.1 The discipline of pastoral theology is grounded in a concept of the church that is concrete and practical; pastoral theology is therefore "existential ecclesiol ogy";2 its "perspective" is concerned, in other words, about the way in which the church here-and-now can best fulfill itself?can "say something" about itself. Such a statement should not indicate that content is not a concern for pastoral theology, but should emphasize perspective and the way in which dogmatic/ moral foundations of the church might best be enunciated at any one historical time.3