(Headline USA) A Massachusetts hospital released a video this week warning it might deny care to patients who use “unwelcome words” to talk about race and gender, the Daily Mail reported.
The video from Milford Regional Medical Center’s website features Peter Smulowitz, the hospital’s chief medical officer, announcing that the hospital will be implementing a new code of conduct to guarantee an “inclusive” environment.
“Everyone should expect a safe, caring and inclusive environment in all our spaces,” Smulowitz says.
“Our patient and visitor code of conduct helps us meet this goal,” he continues. “Words or actions that are disrespectful, racist, discriminatory, hostile or harassing are not welcome and will not be tolerated.”
He then specifies what would be considered unacceptable conduct, including:
- offensive comments about others’ race, ethnicity, accent, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other personal traits
- refusal to see a clinician or other staff member based on these personal traits
- aggressive or intimidating behavior, physical or verbal threats and assaults
- sexual or vulgar words or actions
- disrupting another patient’s care or experience
After garnering unwanted media attention following its Jan. 3 release, the video was subsequently unlisted from the hospital’s YouTube site but remained embedded and accessible via the website’s code of conduct page. It is now available for public view at Headline USA’s YouTube page.
As several conservatives pointed out, it was not clear how Milford Regional planned to determine what was and was not “offensive,” making it likely that the policy would be disproportionately biased against speech that did not fall in with the woke agenda.
Smulowitz warned that “body language and tone of voice are also important parts of communication.”
However, patients would be given the chance to “explain” themselves should they be accused of violating Milford Regional’s conduct code.
“If we believe you have violated our code with unwelcome words or actions, you will be given a chance to explain your point of view” he said. “We will always carefully consider your response before we make any decisions about future care at Milford Regional.”
Those found to have violated the conduct code could be denied non-emergency treatments, the hospital said in a post on its website.
“Some violations of this [c]ode may lead to patients being asked to make other plans for their care,” it said. “For serious or repeated violations, future non-emergency care and visitation rights at Milford Regional may require review, though we expect this to be rare.”
