Most confusing. The "care" talked about is that which is guaranteed the patient, that is, no patient will be refued care. The objection seems to be about discrimination against staffers.
What a tempest in a teapot. 
Posted on 10/03/2003 4:10:44 PM PDT by getget
Why a local hospital gave in to a racist demand Supervisors said they sought only to avoid a confrontation. By Oliver Prichard Inquirer Staff Writer
For several days in early September, supervisors at Abington Memorial Hospital told African American employees to stay out of a patient's room after a man ordered that no blacks assist in the delivery of his child.
Despite a hospital policy stating that "care will be provided on a nondiscriminatory basis," maternity ward staffers accommodated the man's wishes.
The decision offended many employees and prompted hospital president Richard L. Jones Jr. to issue a statement calling the situation "morally reprehensible."
Hospital vice president Meg McGoldrick said the problems began when a pregnant woman's husband insisted that only white employees could enter his wife's room.
"The staff informed our African American employees that there was a volatile situation, and they suggested that they not interact with the family," she said. "In some cases, they actually told employees that they probably ought not to go into the room."
The supervisors had good intentions and sought only to avoid a confrontation between the man, who was white, and hospital staff, McGoldrick said. Doctors, nurses and service employees were among those affected by the decision.
"The whole incident has greatly upset many of our employees who... perceived that we were acquiescing to the family's wishes," McGoldrick said in an interview. "We were wrong. We should have followed our policy."
Citing patient privacy law, hospital officials said they could not release information about the man or his wife, or details of her medical treatment.
She was admitted the week of Sept. 7. McGoldrick would say only that the couple, accompanied by their young child, were at the hospital "several days."
The man did not threaten violence and police were not called, although hospital security monitored the situation closely, McGoldrick said.
NAACP is notified
The Philadelphia office of the NAACP received calls about the incident, but no one filed a formal complaint. J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia NAACP, was not available for comment.
Efforts to reach staffers from the hospital's maternity section were unsuccessful.
Abington is a 508-bed hospital that serves patients from Montgomery and Bucks Counties and Philadelphia. Following the breach of policy, hospital administrators have taken several steps, including:
Personally apologizing to staffers who were told not to enter the patient's room.
Sending a letter on Sept. 16 to all employees and volunteers, in which Jones promised to "better address unconscionable circumstances like this."
Holding staff meetings and forming a "diversity task force" of hospital employees to develop a plan for similar problems in the future.
Hiring consultants to help managers handle sensitive cultural issues.
Revising the hospital's antidiscrimination policy to immediately notify high-level administrators when such problems occur.
'Inexcusable' decision
Despite those efforts, the decision to restrict black employees from fully performing their work for several days was "inexcusable," said Barry Morrison, director of the Anti-Defamation League's regional office in Philadelphia.
"I don't see why and how a hospital could justify accommodating a request that the professionals attending to a patient be of a particular background," Morrison said. "Certainly, it's demoralizing for the people who work there."
Carol Bayley, a medical ethicist for Catholic Health Care West, a San Francisco-based network of 41 hospitals, said Abington Hospital had failed its responsibilities to employees and the community while accommodating someone's racial preference.
"This was a fundamental disrespect of these professionals' skills and their fundamental dignities," Bayley said. "Hospitals are public citizens, and like any other big institution, they have to stand for integrity. A hospital needs to stand against this undercurrent of racism in our society."
i.e., Employees of Je$$e Inc.
Most confusing. The "care" talked about is that which is guaranteed the patient, that is, no patient will be refued care. The objection seems to be about discrimination against staffers.
What a tempest in a teapot.
You can't have it both ways with affirmative action. Sure, a black techie may be fully qualified but, why gamble? Just because the black extortionists and their political pimps are willing to have you take the risks of black but, maybe, unqualified health care providers, doesn't mean the the patient is willing or should have to take the same risk.
They should have told the patient to find another hospital. I think they handled it totally wrong ---- but I've seen hospitals do the same kind of caving in to Muslim's bigotry. They will demand only a particular gender for simple procedures and are often accomodated.
If they can pass the certification tests then they are probably equally qualified, if they were trained hired pre-affirmative action days then they are probably more qualified. I've seen where blacks are the most qualified in their jobs ---- besides ---- would it really be fair to the whites to expect them to work extra or take call every night because a bigot comes in?
You can't have it both ways with affirmative action. Sure, a black techie may be fully qualified but, why gamble? Just because the black extortionists and their political pimps are willing to have you take the risks of black but, maybe, unqualified health care providers, doesn't mean the the patient is willing or should have to take the same risk.
You're living proof that skin color is no guarantee of competence.
"One who is unreasonably and blindly attached to a particular creed, church or party; one who is intolerant of opinions which differ from his own; a fanatic; one illiberal, or hypocritically stuborn in creed."
Cuts both ways.
Tracis made a valid point.
I'd be interested to see you address the point that the minorities may not be qualified, but hired anyway to meet the requirments put in place by the libs. Have at it.
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