TOTD - 01.26.12
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twinsanity
Posts: 1,847 Member
MEDICAL RIGHTS FOR THE LGBT+ COMMUNITY
In 2010, President Obama put orders into place that every hospital across the United States receiving Medicare or Medicaid payments from the government shall no longer deny medical rights to members of the LGBT+ community.
If your partner was in the hospital, for whatever reason, according to these orders you cannot be kept from their bedside because of your sexual and/or gender identity and relationship to the patient. While I think this is a huge step in the right direction for gay rights, I don't see it implemented as it should be.
I currently have a friend who is in a local hospital whose partner has been asked to leave her room because she is not considered family by the hospital. Not only do I find it appalling that a hospital believes it has the right to suddenly define the word family, but I'm disgusted at the total and complete lack of respect for THEIR PATIENT! As a patient in a hospital, support from your family and loved ones is often a key piece to recovery. I am baffled that a hospital would deny a patient that love and support.
What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever been faced with a situation similar to this, or know someone who has? How did you/they handle it?
In 2010, President Obama put orders into place that every hospital across the United States receiving Medicare or Medicaid payments from the government shall no longer deny medical rights to members of the LGBT+ community.
If your partner was in the hospital, for whatever reason, according to these orders you cannot be kept from their bedside because of your sexual and/or gender identity and relationship to the patient. While I think this is a huge step in the right direction for gay rights, I don't see it implemented as it should be.
I currently have a friend who is in a local hospital whose partner has been asked to leave her room because she is not considered family by the hospital. Not only do I find it appalling that a hospital believes it has the right to suddenly define the word family, but I'm disgusted at the total and complete lack of respect for THEIR PATIENT! As a patient in a hospital, support from your family and loved ones is often a key piece to recovery. I am baffled that a hospital would deny a patient that love and support.
What are your thoughts on this? Have you ever been faced with a situation similar to this, or know someone who has? How did you/they handle it?
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I am an RN and have worked in the nursing field for over 20 years. Never in my life have I ever heard of anyone being asked to leave because they aren't "family". What state is this in? If I worked at a place like that and was asked by my boss to ask someone to leave, I would tell them no. I need a rationale.. why? Why do I need to do this? Is the partner and the patient yelling and fighting all the time. Does the partner make the pt. get agitated that may make the pt. condition worse? I'm so floored by this that I can't help but think we aren't hearing the whole story.
Next step... get a lawyer! Do they have advance directives of health care for each other? Do they have legal domestic partner and/or marriage papers?(depending on what state... some terrible states don't have either, but the directives on health care is every state). Contact hospital administrator and tell them you will tell your story to the press. Don't let this ship happen in the year 2012.. enough is enough.0 -
Funny you should ask...my friend's partner is her medical power of attorney! And when she brought that up, she was told that no decisions needed to be made at that time, and was asked to leave the room. The patient was in CCU, and her partner was told that because she was in CCU, only immediate family was aloud in the room with her. One of their other friends has actually already contacted the media about it. Whether that information was provided to the hospital, I don't know. We are in Colorado...where oddly enough is where yesterday's TOTD day came out of, applauding the Girl Scouts of Colorado for their push to include a transgendered child into one of the local troops. It does still happen, and I've told my friend's partner about the orders handed down by President Obama. This is happening as we speak, so we will see where it goes from here!Next step... get a lawyer! Do they have advance directives of health care for each other? Do they have legal domestic partner and/or marriage papers?(depending on what state... some terrible states don't have either, but the directives on health care is every state). Contact hospital administrator and tell them you will tell your story to the press. Don't let this ship happen in the year 2012.. enough is enough.0 -
Intensive care units can ask people to leave because of the high acuity of the patient. But, I have not heard of asking someone to leave because they aren't "family". Usually, there are certain visiting hours in those types of units. But that is for everyone... not just "not family". So I still don't understand this. Keep me up to date.
My partner and I are legal domestic partners and have advance directives of health care and POA for financial affairs. All friends and family know of our wishes so if something like this happened to us, they know what to do. But, living in Oregon, there is less chance of this type of discrimination, but it could still happen in the backwater part in the east of our state or if we travel to say... oh, Colorado, for instance...
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Haha!! I will certainly keep you posted!
I will say this - being that I truly am an outsider in this situation - I can't speak to whether this is the policy of this specific hospital, or just these particular care providers being *kitten*, I honestly don't know. Either way, I find the actions appalling and disrespectful. And if is just the care providers, they've obviously lost sight of the fact that they are also representing the hospital they work in!0 -
Intensive care units can ask people to leave because of the high acuity of the patient. But, I have not heard of asking someone to leave because they aren't "family". Usually, there are certain visiting hours in those types of units. But that is for everyone... not just "not family". So I still don't understand this. Keep me up to date.
That was the first thing to enter my mind...ICU, CCU?
Is it possible that the family of your friend told the healthcare workers that the partner wasn't family?
I can only speak for the hospital that i work for...Seriously, you would be fired in a hot second for any form of discrimination. We have a zero tolerance policy for visitors, patients and employees. All employees have to go through diversity classes when they are hired. (and i live in close minded North Carolina)
We have def had to ask people to leave the room...but for other various resons.0 -
if someone tells me I have to leave my husband's side because I'm not considered family, I'll politely warn them that I'll put anyone who tries to move me into hospital bed of their own.
It's not rational and ultimately probably not productive, but there you have it.0 -
She was just simply told that only family member were allowed to visit her because she was in CCU. When it was explained that they were life partners, and she had the medical power of attorney, she was told that no desicions were needing to be made at that time and was asked to leave the room.
Should my friend be moved to another floor in the hospital once she is out of CCU, I have no idea how everything will be handled. Like I said, I have no idea if this is hospital policy or not. When I talk to my friend's partner tomorrow I'm going to tell her that she needs to ask for her partner's patient advocate. We'll see where it goes.0 -
We fortunately have not had any reason where a hospital visit or stay was necessary...woo, but it is a concern I have. I hope I never have to experience this in general....but cannot imagine not being by my wife's side or vice versa should anything happen that requires hospital care. I suppose if it came down to it...they would have to physically remove me or call the authorities.
Here in St. Louis (city) - they recently passed legislation where we are protected (as domestic partners) but as far as I know...that only applies to those of us who actually reside in the city. Some of the outer 'suburbs' are also starting to pass dom. partnership registration as well, which provides the same or very similar rights. It's a start I suppose but still hoping that Missouri pulls its head out and repeals the ban on gay marriage. Serious WTF on that one.0 -
if someone tells me I have to leave my husband's side because I'm not considered family, I'll politely warn them that I'll put anyone who tries to move me into hospital bed of their own.
It's not rational and ultimately probably not productive, but there you have it.
I feel the same way.0 -
if someone tells me I have to leave my husband's side because I'm not considered family, I'll politely warn them that I'll put anyone who tries to move me into hospital bed of their own.
It's not rational and ultimately probably not productive, but there you have it.
Yep they would def have a reason to call me a crazy *****.0 -
I agree!! There would be hell to pay!0
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She was just simply told that only family member were allowed to visit her because she was in CCU. When it was explained that they were life partners, and she had the medical power of attorney, she was told that no desicions were needing to be made at that time and was asked to leave the room.
Should my friend be moved to another floor in the hospital once she is out of CCU, I have no idea how everything will be handled. Like I said, I have no idea if this is hospital policy or not. When I talk to my friend's partner tomorrow I'm going to tell her that she needs to ask for her partner's patient advocate. We'll see where it goes.
Any hospital with that kind of policy is very out dated? By the way, is it a religious based hospital, like adventist? The adventists can and do discriminate...0 -
I honestly don't know. Many of the hospitals around here are, so that may be a factor.0
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I was thinking the same thing. Around here hospitals like Baptist or any hospital beginning with the name "St." are more likely to do those horrible things.0
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Reading some of the horrible things that some of you have encountered sure makes me appreciate that I live in Canada!0
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Reading some of the horrible things that some of you have encountered sure makes me appreciate that I live in Canada!
Same here. I feel like America has A LOT of catching up to do on this front.0 -
In Australia, and speaking more specifically about the state of Victoria, any religious institution is exempt from anti discrimination legislation/law. So, in effect, any church run (also read government funded) school, hospital, charity, community service, etc. etc. can behave in a discriminatory manner where they can demonstrate that the discrimination is necessary to comply with their genuine religious beliefs or principles.
In the two large regional centres I have recently lived, there have been two hospitals of equal size; one being the base (or public) hospital, open to all, and the other is run by the Catholic Church.0 -
Yes we do!...on so many levels!Reading some of the horrible things that some of you have encountered sure makes me appreciate that I live in Canada!
Same here. I feel like America has A LOT of catching up to do on this front.0
