Anyone living in New Hampshire 10 years ago will surely remember the protracted debate over the proposed merger between the Elliot Hospital and Catholic Medical Center in Manchester.

The proposal called for closing Catholic Medical Center, leaving the Elliot Hospital as the single provider of acute care for an estimated 350,000 people.

A holding company, Optima Health, was created which would have included St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua and Wentworth Douglas Hospital in Dover. There was much debate as to how, or even if, this health-care model would benefit the residents of Manchester.

The Catholic and right-to-life communities were up in arms, thinking the affiliation would contravene the ethical and religious directives of the church. Pro-choice advocates worried that it would limit access to services. Paramedical personnel raised issues about emergency care. Those concerned about quality of care worried about the absence of competition. Independent physicians worried about how they would fare - not to mention anxious employees at both institutions, who felt that many would be disenfranchised by this consolidation.

Four years of debate ensued, with millions of dollars wasted on this foolish experiment.

In the end, following a lopsided citywide referendum vote against the proposal, an investigation by the state attorney general's office found that the management and respective boards of all parties concerned had executed this merger activity without consultation from the citizens they were charged to serve. The attorney general's report would serve as an admonition to the hospital executives and board members alike that this reckless behavior of nonprofit health-care institutions should never be revisited.

Following a period of de-merger activity, the Elliot Hospital and Catholic Medical Center were once again independent. Their respective missions remained intact, and both institutions experienced unprecedented growth over the next 10 years.

In light of the painful past, the "urge to merge" might seem counterintuitive, sure to alienate the people who fought so hard to save Catholic Medical Center.

But now comes Alyson Pitman Giles, CEO of Catholic Medical Center, proposing a merger with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

The first hint of this affiliation came almost a year ago, when Giles said the proposed affiliation would do little more than expand the resource of specialty physicians to Catholic Medical Center.

In a series of meetings, Giles and representatives from Catholic Medical Center have repeatedly attempted to assure us that there would be no major change in the mission, the structure of the board of directors, or in major decisions involving the future of Catholic Medical Center.

This week, Dartmouth-Hitchcock announced that Catholic Medical Center would surrender control of budgets, strategic planning and selection of trustees and the CEO position under its model of affiliation with Catholic Medical Center.

A predicted damage-control piece generated by Catholic Medical Center officials followed two days later, but the statement by Dartmouth-Hitchcock officials spoke volumes about who would be calling the shots once the agreement became official.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is a leader in health-care innovation and care, but its business model is predatory. It is not interested in being a bridesmaid. Catholic Medical Center would be an afterthought, its mission and glorious past notwithstanding.

The successful campaign to save Catholic Medical Center from extinction appears not to be appreciated by Giles or her management team.

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