Colo. hospitals aligning with new LGBT inclusive policies

Most Colorado hospitals have updated their policies to reflect a presidential directive to allow same-sex couples the right to visit partners in a hospital, a survey by Out Front Colorado found.

Ten of the 16 hospitals randomly selected by OFC responded to the survey. And all had some form of policy allowing a patient to choose his or her visitors regardless of sexual orientation or gender.

Seven of the hospitals that participated were owned by larger corporations – Centura, HealthONE and Banner – and had uniform policies. The remaining three are privately owned.

All 10 participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued new rules Nov. 17, 2010 for hospitals that protect patients’ right to choose their own visitors during a hospital stay, including same-sex domestic partners.

The rules came after an April 15, 2010 memo from President Barack Obama, in which the administration tasked the Department of Health and Human Services with developing standards that would require hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid to respect the right of all patients to choose who may visit them when they are an inpatient of a hospital.

The rules require hospitals to have written policies and procedures detailing patients’ visitation rights.

Hospitals found violating these rules could lose funding.

Nine of the 10 hospitals provided their policies electronically to OFC. Only the Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center of La Junta refused.

Hospital spokeswoman Janice Leija read portions of the policies regarding visitation over the phone. It included rights for “domestic partners.”

However, Leija said the hospital also has a non-discrimination policy that is not inclusive of sexual orientation or gender identity and that she is requesting for that policy to be updated.

The nine other hospitals updated their policies this year. The policies range in scope.

For example the Melissa Memorial Hospital’s policy reads in part: “Any person who wishes to visit a friend or relative at Melissa Memorial Hospital is encouraged to do so during normal visitation hours … MMH reserves the right to exclude anyone if they pose a threat to staff, patients or for any reason by order of the Administrator. Exception: No discrimination of protected persons.”

Melissa’s CEO John Ayoub said his Holyoke hospital updated its policy in March after receiving orders from the government.

“It’s the law,” he said.

On the other hand, Banner Health hospitals, including Sterling Regional MedCenter and East Morgan County Hospital in Brush, adopted a system-wide policy Sept. 1 that reads “Banner Health will not restrict, limit, or otherwise deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, language, socioeconomic status, sex, gender, identity, sexual orientation, or disability.”

Each hospital in the Banner system had previously had its own visitor policy, spokeswoman Betty Patterson said.

The Centura and HealthONE hospitals have similar policies.

“We have always believed visitation plays an important role in a patient’s healing and recovery,” said Centura spokeswoman Wendi Dammann. “We revised our patient rights and responsibilities language earlier this year to incorporate specific language in response to the presidential order, but have always advocated for the important role visitors play in a patient’s healing process.”

Hospitals that did not respond to OFC’s questions by deadline include: Exempla’s Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Yuma District Hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital, Community Hospital of Grand Junction, Saint Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction and Weisbrod Memorial County Hospital in Eads.

At Banner, Centura and HealthONE hospitals, patients are presented a list of rights upon admission, their spokesperson said.
But what happens if a patient is unconscious?

Rules and regulations do get murky, however, there are steps a couple can take to ensure each other’s rights.

To take advantage of these new rules and existing laws in Colorado, Leslie Horna of HeathONE said all persons should have their wishes in writing.

“Colorado is a proxy decision making state so we honor appointed decision makers, as well as other interested parties including domestic partners,” she said.

One way to ensure your wishes to be carried out is by signing up for a designated beneficiary with the state, said Mindy Barton, the GLBT Community Center of Colorado’s lawyer.

Created in 2009 by the Colorado General Assembly, designated beneficiary status not only creates a property agreement between two unmarried Coloradans but also sanctions each partner as a decision maker in the case of incapacity.

“A designated beneficiary agreement adds value to these new laws to ensure that there won’t be any complications,” Barton said.
If a designated beneficiary is too much of a commitment, Banner Health and the Colorado Hospital Association and the Iris project have resources available for any individual in Colorado to use to designate his or her surrogate decision maker, Patterson said.

“All Banner Health facilities honor and respect the decisions of the patient’s chosen surrogate decision-maker provided the surrogate is legally able and competent,” she said.