Hospital Statement Accidentally Shows Wrongdoing

Fortunately, the travesty that occurred at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri ("RMC"), where a man's partner was handcuffed and arrested for seeking to stay with his ailing partner, continues to get much deserved coverage and as the hospital tries to dig itself out of the hole created by an abusive nurse and seemingly homophobic hospital personnel, it may have actually documented that it violated federal requirements,  So again I ask, will the Obama administration make good on its threat that hospital that behave in this manner will be cut off from Medicaid and Medicare funds?  An example needs to be made that will send shock waves through the hospital administration world to guarantee that this kind of bigotry and unequal treatment ceases once and for all.  If it takes bankrupting a hospital to accomplish this end, then so be it.  The New Civil Rights Movement has an extensive piece that looks deeper at what really happened and the growing evidence that the hospital not only knowingly violated the federal requirements but engaged in homophobic conduct.  Here are excerpts:

It cannot be stated enough that this case demonstrates the imperative that DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 that bans the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, must be repealed and all same-sex couples who wish to be legally married are allowed to do so.   Hospitals time and time again refuse to follow federal guidelines or observe legal contracts, often feigning ignorance to cover up their bigotry — or, indeed, actual ignorance.

RMC’s statement provides evidence that the hospital’s employees did not follow proper federal procedure and policies in a flagrant and offensive disregard for the rights of their patient and their patient’s same-sex partner.

John Aravosis, who is the editor of AmericaBlog, and has a law degree from Georgetown University and years of experience in legal matters and LGBT civil rights, published an examination of event after personally contacting the federal offices of Medicare and Medicaid in Washington, D.C., and interviewing Amanda Brown, the 26-year old daughter of Roger Gorley.

Aravosis writes “the hospital claims that Gorley was asked to leave because he wouldn’t quiet down.  But at the same time, the hospital claims that Gorley was asked to show his medical power of attorney for his partner Allen, and couldn’t provide it. Leading to the proverbial: ruh roh.”
“By admitting that they asked Roger Gorley to prove that he had medical power of attorney for his spouse, Allen, the hospital admits that things would have turned out differently had Gorley had the proof on his person,” Aravosis explains:

Thus, the hospital admits that this was not, as it keeps claimingly, solely a case of a man being “disruptive.” It was a case of a gay man being unable to prove, to the hospital’s satisfaction, that he was the spouse of another gay man lying in the emergency room.  Thus the hospital’s due diligence, or lack thereof (I’d argue), in finding out whether Gorley was the spouse is relevant – nay, key – to this entire story.  And as I’ll show below, the hospital’s due diligence in following federal regulations governing same-sex hospital visitation appears to have been lacking, to say the least.

And Aravosis adds:

Under the federal regulations governing same-sex hospital visitation, the hospital does not appear to have followed the regulations – by its own admission – making it subject to possible forfeiture of its Medicare and Medicaid contracts with the federal government. Here’s why:
A) I interviewed the Medicare and Medicaid office in Washington yesterday, and got the complete details of the hospital visitation regulations.  Roger didn’t need to provide any proof of his medical power of attorney, or anything else for that matter, if, as his daughter claims, patient Allen said, during the altercation, “I want him here.”
Under federal regulations, that is all that is needed, the argument ends.  So why did the hospital ask gay Roger to prove his power of attorney?

B) Let’s assume, devil’s advocate, that the daughter is wrong, and patient Allen did not ask for Roger to stay (perhaps he was unconscious).

Federal regs say that the partner can simply say “I’m in charge,” and that’s enough UNLESS someone else asserts that they too are in charge of the patient, which appears to have happened here when Allen’s straight brother also stepped in and asserted his authority  Here’s what the regs say happens next, and I quote the federal guideline accompanying the regs:

“In such cases [when more than one individual claims to be the patient’s representative], it would be appropriate for the hospital to ask each individual for documentation supporting his/her claim to be the patient’s representative.  The hospital should make its determination of who is the patient’s representative based upon the hospital’s determination of who the patient would most want to make decisions on his/her behalf.  Examples of documentation a hospital might consider could include, but are not limited to, the following:  proof of a legally recognized marriage, domestic partnership, or civil union; proof of a joint household; proof of shared or co-mingled finances; and any other documentation the hospital considers evidence of a special relationship that indicates familiarity with the patient’s preferences concerning medical treatment.”

Aravosis offers an exceptionally thorough examination that would lead practically anyone to agree the hospital violated the couple’s rights.

In a separate and also extensive piece, Aravosis’ exclusive interview of Gorley’s daughter, there’s this frightening indictment:

Daughter says security assumed dad had AIDS because he was gay

Amanda’s account of hospital security’s treatment of her father, which she posted to her blog, is chilling – it’s still unclear if this was the KCPD or the hospital’s own private police:

When the Kansas City Missouri Police Department arrived they asked my father to leave the room. He said to them, “No. This is my husband and I am going to stay with him.”

The police considered that a violation of a direct order, so they began to forcibly remove him from the room. My father held onto the rail of the gurney as well as his husbands hand with everything he had. The police responded with brut and excessive force. The office began karate chopping his wrist to get him to release the gurney. Then they wrestled him to the ground forcefully enough to knock his glasses off of his face, his hearing aids out of his ears, and nearly break his wrist while they took him down. To handcuff him, they pushed a knee into his back and wrenched his wrists around.

It didn’t end there. The police changed his handcuffs 4 times! They assumed because he was a gay man that he was HIV+. When they drew blood from accosting him in such a brutal manner they freaked out. One of the arresting officers was so offended by my father’s presence that he would not touch him with his bare hands. He wore gloves the entire time and to make matters even more humiliating he didn’t want his handcuffs back. He grabbed them with gloves on, then another layer of gloves pinched between his index finger and thumb as he handed them off to another officer. The officer taking the handcuffs looked at him like he was crazy and just grabbed the handcuffs with no issue.

Welcome to the world of being gay in red states.  This nightmare could happen to any gay couple in the states where gay relationships receive ZERO legal recognition.   Virginia is a prime example.  The boyfriend and I both have medical powers of attorney that in theory would avoid this type of situation, but in a true emergency, stopping and grabbing the medical power of attorney is likely to be the last thought on one's mind.  

Which brings me to what keeps this type of abuse and bigotry alive:  the Christofascists (in Virginia, The Family Foundation lead the way in gay bashing and stigmatization) who continue to disseminate hate and lies about gays and do all in their power to keep us unequal under the law and to make our lives a living Hell.  These people are evil and their power and the deference they are given needs to end.

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Will Obama Stand Behind His Executive Order and Cut Federal Funds to Research Medical Center in Kansas City?

In 2010 President Obama mandated that any hospital that receives federal funding  - e.g., Medicare or Medicaid funds - must recognize same sex partner medical powers of attorneys and must allow visitation privileges for same-sex partners.  This apparently meant nothing to the knuckle draggers at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, who had Roger Gorley (pictured at right at left) arrested when he refused to leave that hospital even though he had a valid medical power of attorney signed by his partner.  Rather than recognize the presidential executive order and a valid legal document, the hospital sided with his partner's family.  Adding insult to injury, the hospital secured a restraining order barring Gorley from coming back to the hospital.  Time and time again in my law practice I see family members of gays not give a rat's ass about their gay family member until a medical crisis arises or the family member dies and then suddenly they swoop in like a flock of vultures.  One can only hope that Obama makes sure that Research Medical Center in Kansas City receives an notification that their federal funds have been stopped, preferably permanently.  The hospital can start its resultant cost cutting measures by firing the nurse who was such an asshole as well as the hospital spokesperson.  Here are highlights from WDFA-TV on this outrage:

Roger Gorley went to visit his partner, Allen, at Research Medical Center, 2316 E. Meyer Blvd., Tuesday afternoon.  He says when he got there, a member of Allen’s family asked him to leave.

When Gorley refused, he says hospital security forcibly removed him from the property and put him in handcuffs.  “I was not recognized as being the husband, I wasn’t recognized as being the partner,” Gorley said.  While not legally recognized as a couple in Missouri, Gorley says he and his partner Allen have been in a civil union for nearly five years, and make medical decisions for each other.

He says the nurse refused to verify they also share joint Power of Attorney.  “She didn’t even bother to go look it up to check into it,” Gorley said. “He’s been at the psychiatric unit part several times.”

According to an arrest report from Kansas City, Mo., police, a security supervisor at  Research Medical Center was contacted by Emergency Room personnel after Gorley refused to leave the room of his partner. The hospital said they did not want to have any visitors to Allen’s room.

Gorley was told to leave the room by nurses and security, but refused, the police report said.  “After several verbal attempts to get [Gorley] to leave the room, he continually refused and began to cause a disturbance,” the report said. “[He] began to cause a disturbance by physically resisting security officers as they escorted him out of the patient’s room.”

When police arrived, hospital security officials said they wanted to arrest Gorley for trespassing and disorderly conduct. He was then taken to the police station to be booked, documents show.  Arrest documents say Gorley was placed into handcuffs after a short struggle with hospital security.

Research Medical Center says it can’t talk specifically about this case, but in a statement said:

We believe involving the family is an important part of the patient care process. And, the patient`s needs are always our first priority. When anyone becomes disruptive to providing the necessary patient care, we involve our security team to help calm the situation and to protect our patients and staff. If the situation continues to escalate, we have no choice but to request police assistance.

That's right.  The hospital ignores a valid legal document and a federal mandate, but Gorley is the one arrested and kept from his partner.     This is a prime example of why gay marriage needs to be made a constitutional right nationwide.  Hopefully, Obama has the balls to make an example of Research Medical Center in Kansas City.  And if he doesn't then a petition needs to be started to pressure him into addressing this outrage.   Meanwhile, if you are gay and live in Kansas City, be advised to stay away from Research Medical Center in Kansas City (see image below) like the plague.