Just when I wasn’t going to blog about anything but my writing, I read author Nicola Griffith’s blog. She was trembling with rage. This is such a horrific display of cruelty, it can’t be ignored.
U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan dismissed a lawsuit yesterday, essentially finding that the Jackson Memorial Hospital was within its rights to leave a dying woman alone while denying her present and immediate family to visit her, be updated on her condition, or even to provide the hospital with medically necessary information. Read more at Nicola Griffith.
After you read this horrific story, (Do items on Anne Zieger’s list shown below).
•Write firm, indignant letters protesting this injustice and copy them to each and every one of the non-administrative PR staff members on the list contained under this link: http://www.jhsmiami.org/body.cfm?id=9401
•Write a similar firm, indignant letter (though more pointed regarding their responsibility for this mess) to each of the following Jackson Health System executives:
•Eneida O. Roldan, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. President and Chief Executive Officer, Jackson Health System eneida.roldan@jhsmiami.org
•Frank J. Barrett Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer FBarrett@jhsmiami.org
•Gerard A. Kaiser, M.D. Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs GKaiser@med.miami.edu
•Particularly if you’re local, and especially if you have similar stories of medical discrimination to share (leads to more coverage!) write a note to Miami Herald reporter John Dorschner, who’s been covering the health scene in Miami for 20-plus years. He’s at jdorschner@miamiherald.com.
As Nicola states, we have to protect people state by state. (I will not make any comments at this time about Federal dragging it’s feet). If you live in the state of Washington or know someone who lives there, make sure they get out and vote - Approve Referendum 71 by November 3rd for Washington families.
My request : If you are a member of a church, ask them to protest the cruel treatment of a dying woman and her family at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Show the love I’ve heard you have.
October 20, 2009 at 6:25 pm
@Donna
I think this sort of thing happens a lot but we just don’t hear about it. I just cannot imagine not being able to see my gf if, God forbid, she were in the hospital ill.
We’ve even talked about what we would do in a situation like this and we have decided that we would pretend to be sisters so we could be together in a hospital situation.
But I know that won’t work for everyone so we all need the basic right to see our partner in these situations.
There needs to be a National law that would recognize our unions/ relationships in emergency situations, especially while travelling.
October 21, 2009 at 12:43 pm
We do need national laws…..ahem……but we don’t have a President who has made this a priority and the states have proven that they will not do the right thing.
If I marry, my wife would not be allowed to be in the USA with me. She would have zero rights. If I marry a native here in London and many other parts of Europe – I am seen as their legal partner with most if not all legal rights of marriage.
October 26, 2009 at 11:07 pm
this is a damn shame. Really? This is the wonderful sytem that we pay money to defend?
Come on people.
I hope this jumps starts people to start calling their reps and start a focusing on fed rights.
October 27, 2009 at 6:51 pm
I really wish something like that would happen.