Tennessee Hospital Denies Lesbian Visit With Partner; Citing “Human Error” CEO Quickly Extends Apology

The chief executive officer of Rolling Hills Hospital in Franklin, Tennessee plans to apologize to a lesbian woman who was denied visitation rights with her partner. The Tennessean reports that Val Burke was not allowed to see her partner who is in the psychiatric hospital’s residential unit — a violation of new federal anti-discrimination guidelines. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in September issued the rules for equal visitation and representation rights. “It was human error,” said Richard “Rick” Bangert, chief executive officer of Rolling Hills. “They made a mistake. When I learned of it, I immediately met with my staff on Monday. We immediately made the change in terms of making sure that our policy was very clear.” The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest civil rights organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, called on hospitals to review their visitation policies to prevent similar incidents from occurring. The organization released a joint statement in conjunction with the Tennessee Equality Project. “Denying a loving partner the right to be with his or her sick loved one shows the very personal side of anti-LGBT discrimination,” said Chris Sanders, chairman of the Tennessee Equality Project. Bangert said he plans to meet with Burke today. “I will apologize and work with her directly,” he said. “I take it very personally. This is not representative of the hospital.” The Human Rights Campaign is asking hospitals to participate in its Healthcare Equality Index, an annual survey about policies and procedures related to LGBT people and their families. “Rolling Hills Hospital fixed the problem immediately, but this serves as a reminder discrimination still exists in the health-care arena and we need to tackle it,” said Paul Guequierre, HRC spokesman. The organization also has issued a field guide with information on how same sex couples can prepare for a medical emergency. The HRC recommends that same sex partners have health-care directives and visitation authorization forms prepared in advance of any medical crisis. Copies of those documents should be carried in a wallet. Details are here.