Posted on 10/03/2019 3:14:05 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
A hospital in Maine is apologizing after the state's Human Rights Commission said workers had created a “wall of shame” ridiculing disabled patients and incorporating confidential medical information, according to CNN.
MyKayla McCann, an employee who was treated at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, said that at least two co-workers looked at her medical records and that after she returned from a leave of absence she believed they were treating her differently.
In September 2016, she reported her discomfort and the “wall of shame,” which included details of patients’ sexual activity, bodily functions and private parts, according to the commission. The wall was later taken down.
McCann, who is herself disabled, said she was discriminated against and subjected to an “abusive environment,” according to CNN. The wall was removed after four months, an investigation into the case found, while the hospital claimed it came down in weeks.
"Coworkers constructed a workplace display ridiculing patients with disabilities. [McCann] encountered the display every day as part of her regular environment, making harassment pervasive," the state investigator said.
"The information posted on Shame Wall was intended to demean and humiliate and included supposed 'jokes' about the hospital's physically and mentally disabled patients."
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
* An apology is not enough *
Chain the relevant coworkers and the hospital administration to their desks and burn the place down...
Hospital attorneys are running low on face-palm.
HIPPA would being falling out of it’s chair with rage!
Right?
Sue them into oblivion. Hard to believe this story is true
This is so blatantly wrong that I can’t believe it’s actually true.
Only if the info was personally identifiable (could lead to the name of the patient).
I read the article; seems like the hospital sacked one and wrote up another over the thing. At least that’s a plus, but it indicates something did happen to warrant it.
I know!
It’s times like these that I wish I’d gone to law school.
Is this satire?
No need to go that far; you can make a pretty good living stealing purses or robbing convenience stores.
Well, they were fired at the time of the incident so there is nothing that the hospital can do to them now.
Wow, they need a fishing trip with about 200 feet of old anchor chain
Little bit more than the Hill printed:
“McCann, who lived in Turner while she was working as a laboratory technician assistant at St. Mary’s, filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission in February 2017 claiming she was discriminated against because of a disability and the hospital retaliated against her when she complained to supervisors that employees posted confidential patient medical records for employees to see — including photos of genitalia — ridiculing disabled patients.
The patient records, cut and arranged in a collage and posted on the inside of a cabinet door, included information detailing unnamed patients’ sexual activity, genital dysfunction, bowel movements, bodily odors and other conditions or maladies.”
I once was paying for gasoline in a combination gas station / convenience store here in Maine.
The walls behind the cash register were papered with checks that had bounced. There were at least 100 checks on display, probably a whole lot more.
This was 20 years ago or more.
I can see they really care about their patients. Fire the lot of them. Then put up a wall of shameful ex-employees.
But if you care about your own medical privacy, you should know that the House just passed a national patient ID that would allow millions of corrupt bureaucrats in government to access your patient data with one number.
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