Hopefully you remember the case of
Roger Gorley and his partner Allen Mansell from about a month ago. Gorley was visiting his partner Mansell who
was in Research Medical Center when he and Mansell’s brother got into an
argument. According to Gorley, hospital
staff asked him to leave and he refused.
The situation escalated until Gorley was forcibly removed from his
partner’s bedside by hospital security staff.
The story made national news and went viral in social media as an
example of discrimination against same sex couples. (The editorial in this month’s issue of The Advocate mentions this story.)
When this case went national, I had
friends across the country asking me about it since it happened in Kansas
City. I was shocked, because this
happened at Research Medical Center, the hospital closest to our church. I wrote a letter to RMC expressing my concern
about this situation and asking for a response.
I was pleasantly surprised to get a personal phone call from RMC CEO
Kevin Hicks. We had a good conversation
and he tasked a vice president at the hospital to arrange a meeting.
Not surprisingly, the hospitaldisputes the accusation of discrimination and believes it followed proper
procedure for when there is a disruption in a patient room. Furthermore, because of HIPAA and the
possibility of pending litigation, there is only so much the hospital can or
will say on the matter. Because of these
limitations, I realized that arguing over what happened in the case of Mr.
Gorley and Mr. Mansell would accomplish little—it comes down to a “he said/they
said” situation. Therefore, I let the
folks from RMC know that my interest was in finding out what the hospital was
willing to do to regain the trust of the LGBT community in light of this
incident.
I am grateful to Paul Osgood and
Larry Chester for going with me to meet with the folks from RMC this week. Several other church members desired to go
but had conflicts. We met with Kevin
Hicks, the RMC CEO, a vice president and the director of the hospital’s council
on diversity. The meeting was cordial
and we walked away from it feeling that Mr. Hicks and his folks really listened
to what we had to say.
The first thing we communicated with
them about was that the hospital has a real problem with the LGBT community’s
perception of it. I believe that the RMC
folks really did not understand that any LGBT person who was aware of the story
would decide not to go to RMC.
Furthermore, I think their eyes were opened when Paul and Larry
described how they and their partners had experienced discrimination elsewhere
in the past. Their history of experiencing
discrimination led them to immediately believe the media accounts of the event
and to think the worst of the hospital.
By the end of the meeting, I think the RMC folks realized that if they
truly are a hospital that does not discriminate, then they will have to prove it
to LGBT people.
Secondly, we presented them with
something called the Healthcare Equality Index which is operated by the Human
Rights Campaign Foundation. The HEI is a
certification process that focuses on 4 areas of a hospital: 1.
non-discrimination policies towards LGBT patients, 2. non-discrimination
policies towards LGBT employees, 3. visitation policies for LGBT patients and
their partners, and 4. sensitivity training towards care of LGBT people. Out of the 400+ hospitals in the country
which have been certified by the HEI, only one of them is in Missouri and it is
in St. Louis. We offered the possibility
that Research Medical Center can go from being incredibly negative in the eyes
of LGBT people to having the stamp of approval of the Human Rights Campaign,
the nation’s most visible organization promoting LGBT rights. We also offered our willingness—if they went
through such a certification—to help them to reach out to the LGBT-welcoming
faith community and to LGBT organizations our church members participate in.
The response we received was
positive but non-committal at this time.
Mr. Hicks the CEO assured me that they would look over the information
about the Healthcare Equality Index and would get back to us about their
decision. He also seemed to genuinely
get, if he had not before, the reality that the hospital must actively reach
out to the LGBT community. It was a good
first meeting. We will wait and see if
anything else develops.
In my opinion, this is the sort of
advocacy a church like ours should be doing.
God calls us to work for justice in our community and world. God’s justice includes equal care for all of
God’s children and an active response to discrimination. Furthermore, Jesus calls us to be
peacemakers. Peace in the biblical sense
does not mean the absence of conflict but rather the presence of wholeness
(Shalom) for all parties. My prayer is
that Research Medical Center (and all medical care providers) can learn of ways
it can care for all people with dignity, including LGBT people. If the hospital can demonstrate its
willingness to dialogue with and listen to the particular concerns of LGBT
people, then my hope is that LGBT people would respond favorably to the
hospital’s demonstration of progress. I
will continue to pray that such a movement of God’s justice and peace can
happen in this situation. I hope you
will pray for it too.
Grace
and Peace,
Chase
3 comments:
Chase, this was a wonderful, successful mission, regardless of future outcomes.
I was impressed with your mention that the best possible result in any situation is peace for everyone involved, a good lesson for me.
Allen
Chase:
What a fantastic testimony to the LGBT community in your town to show of the willingness for inclusion and equality. Great summation of the meeting, and here's hoping that positive steps come from it.
WOW! Great Article. I wish your church was in my area. I have no doubts that the hospital is probably not homophobic as an institution. As far as the staff goes, its hard to judge without being there. In a previous life I worked in a hospital emergency room and can picture a bitch condescending nurse just as easy as I can picture a belligerent disruptive visitor.
My hope is that the Hospital work with the Police department to work out a deal where the alleged victims refuse to sue the hospital and the hospital petition the DA to drop the charges. Instead, both parties should reflect on what they did wrong and exchange apologies. I realize this is unrealistic, but it sounds nice. hahah
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