old health

I was reading some articles on Irish health care. it is such a messy issue but in the 1970s the Catholic Church still controlled much of the system; they set up and ran most of the country’s hospitals and clinics.  They ran it as a private system that a citizen could voluntarily join.  In 1971, the Republic of Ireland created a system of eight health boards.  These boards were responsible for operating in specific areas; Ireland was divided into regions and put under jurisdiction of a chief executive officer of the board.  Reform of this system was needed due to the politicization of the appointment of its members. Officers were chosen based on their political affiliations and as a result medical decisions were often weighed on how they affected parties rather than their benefit to the community and patients.