5. WHITES ONLY
Hospital settles lawsuit with nurse after posting a sign barring African American nurses from touching, treating or caring for a white newborn baby at the behest of its’ swastika adorned father.
DETROIT (AP) — It’s been called one of medicine’s “open secrets” — allowing patients to refuse treatment by a doctor or nurse of another race.
Veteran neonatal nurse Tonya Battle’s lawsuit accused Hurley Medical Center hospital staff of posting a note on an assignment clipboard saying that African-American nurses could not care for a certain newborn. The baby’s father had made the request after he found Battle caring for the baby, Battle said. The note later was removed, but African-American nurses were not assigned to care for the infant for about a month, according to the complaint filed in Genesee County Circuit Court in January.
On Friday evening, with Battle and two other nurses at her side, the hospital’s CEO, Melany Gavulic, read from a prepared statement that said, in part, “We regret that our policies were not well enough understood and followed, causing the perception that Hurley condoned this conduct.
The note later was removed, but African-American nurses were not assigned to care for the infant for about a month, according to the complaint filed in Genesee County Circuit Court in January.
“Hurley Medical Center is fundamentally opposed to any form of racial discrimination,” Gavulic read.
She indicated that the incident may lead to staff training, though the statement offered no specifics and did not address the allegations in the second suit.
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