Hospital apologizes for complying with racial request

The incident may have violated employees' rights, and an ethicist says that it also has implications for patient safety.

By Andis Robeznieks, AMNews staff. Oct. 27, 2003.

A nationally recognized Philadelphia-area hospital received some national attention it didn't want, including charges that it violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it complied with the request of a patient's husband that only white hospital staff members care for his pregnant wife.

Officials of Abington Memorial Hospital in Abington, Pa., have issued a public apology, apologized individually to the employees involved, formed a diversity task force to develop plans to avoid future incidents and are holding employee forums on revising the hospital's nondiscrimination policy.

Don Clark, EdD, president of the Willow Grove branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, said a sign was placed outside the patient's room indicating that her husband did not want black employees to enter. Dr. Clark said he was told by hospital officials that this sign was eventually replaced by one instructing all staff members to report to the nursing station before going in.

"If it was an African-American employee, they were told not to enter the room," he said.

The incident occurred the week of Sept. 7-13. Citing privacy laws, the hospital would not reveal much more except to say the patient was there "for several days." In a letter to the community, Richard L. Jones Jr., Abington Memorial's president and CEO, apologized for the incident and explained how the request for no contact with minority employees came to be honored.

"A maternity patient's family member made requests of the hospital that were racially discriminatory," Jones wrote. "In a misguided effort to protect African-American employees from a potential conflict with this family, maternity staff informed them of the volatile situation and suggested that they not interact with this patient. While these actions were made with the best intentions, it was perceived that the hospital was acquiescing to the family's wishes."