Archive

Archive for January 6, 2009

AMA is taking a stance too.

January 6, 2009 thelpkids 1 comment

I spoke this fall at the GLMA (Gay/Lesbian Medical Association) annual meeting which in 2008 was held in Seattle. when I spoke at the Gala dinner to the physicians and hospital administators I received a horrified look that this sort of discrimination would exist in the health care setting.

Following my speech, I see that the AMA has taken on this issue for 2009 and cite Lisa and our family’s experience (and lawsuit) for the change. Again another step forward.

AMA

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender physician issues

1) Leading hospital accrediting organization to explore LGBT concerns
The Joint Commission has appointed Joel Ginsberg, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA), to serve on a new expert advisory panel on developing hospital standards for culturally competent patient-centered care. Formerly known as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.

“This is another victory in our fight to ensure equality in health care for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people,” said Ginsberg in a GLMA news release. “We’ve seen a lot of progress in recent years,” he said, referring to his organization’s work with the AMA, Aetna and others, and added, “The Joint Commission has tremendous influence. Its decision to address the unique needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients has the potential to affect millions of people.”

The new panel will make recommendations regarding many facets of hospital operations, including leadership, quality improvement and data use, work force, provision of care, patient needs, patient-provider communication and community engagement. GLMA is also working to improve hospital treatment of LGBT patients and employees through the Healthcare Equality Index, a national survey conducted in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

“A key issue is ending discriminatory hospital visitation policies, to prevent future cases like that of Janice Langbehn,” Ginsberg said. In 2007 Janice Langbehn of Olympia, Wash., was barred from visiting her partner of 18 years who had been admitted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami after being told that “she was in an anti-gay city and state,” a GLMA news release reports.

The AMA-GLBT Advisory Committee commends Ginsberg on this appointment.

Categories: G/L/B/T Issues and Info

Our suit cited for policy change in Mesa Arizona

January 6, 2009 thelpkids Leave a comment

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/274633.php

Mesa councilman wants domestic-partner registry

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.06.2009
PHOENIX — Mesa may become the third city in the state to offer hospital-visitation rights to unmarried gay or straight couples who live together.
Mesa Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh has asked the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would allow domestic partners to register their relationships with the city. If approved, Mesa would join Phoenix and Tucson in providing a domestic-partner registry.
Phoenix’s became effective in February, and Tucson authorized one in 2003.
“It’s not creating gay marriage,” Kavanaugh said. “The sole purpose is to ensure visitation rights for people who are in unmarried-partner relationships.”
In November, Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage.
A domestic-partner registry allows unmarried couples the same rights as relatives when it comes to visitations at hospitals, nursing homes and other health-care facilities.
It may seem incongruous that Mesa would consider the idea. The city’s legislative delegation is consistently to the right on the political spectrum, and Mesa’s reputation as a bastion of Mormon conservatism has survived decades of growth and demographic change.
But a precedent was set 500 miles to the north, from where Mesa’s 1870s pioneers migrated — Salt Lake City.
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith likes to say that Salt Lake City is Mesa on steroids because Utah’s capital and its metro area of a million-plus residents has many of Mesa’s religious and civic attributes.
Last year, the Salt Lake City Council voted unanimously to set up a domestic-partner registry. In response to a new Utah law outlawing that term, the city changed it to a mutual-commitment registry a few months later, but the purpose is the same.
So far 43 couples have signed up, according to the Salt Lake City Recorder’s Office.
Kavanaugh said he could not cite any cases in Mesa where domestic partners were barred from a health-care facility, but that it’s been a problem nationally.
“We have all seen so many situations where you have those unexpected medical emergencies and people in long-standing relationships have the barriers to get information or to be with their partner,” he said. “This is, I think, an equitable response to an inequitable situation.”
In a Miami, Fla. case that made national headlines, Janice Langbehn is suing Jackson Memorial Hospital over that facility’s refusal to let her visit her partner, Lisa Pond, after Pond suffered a fatal brain aneurism in 2007.
Kavanaugh said he hopes Mesa’s Human Relations Advisory Board will consider the idea early this year and forward it to the council for approval.
He said couples who register would be charged a fee to offset the city’s costs.
___
Categories: G/L/B/T Issues and Info