Despite Nationwide DEI Backlash, Hospitals Still Pushing Woke Policies

Hospitals across the country are still pushing woke policies, despite a nationwide backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), a watchdog warned Congress. 

Consumers’ Research said lawmakers must hold hospitals receiving federal tax privileges accountable for pushing racially-focused initiatives and transgender procedures on kids, according to a letter obtained by The Daily Wire. The letter came ahead of a congressional hearing on Wednesday morning by the House Energy and Commerce committee on improving healthcare transparency. 

“As nonprofit hospitals keep prioritizing divisive woke ideology, Congress must hold them accountable,” Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild told The Daily Wire. “Federal funding and tax-exempt privileges should never be used by hospitals to advance a radical political agenda.”

“When hospitals go unchecked with access to taxpayer dollars, consumers are left footing the bill for woke policies that distract hospital support meant for patients. This pattern of waste and abuse at hospitals across the country needs to be stopped,” he added. 

Hild’s letter to House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie and other committee members highlighted multiple examples of hospital systems he said were “using federal funding streams and taxpayer-sponsored resources to fund political agendas at the expense of patient care.”

An example in the letter included the California-based Kaiser Permanente, the largest private nonprofit healthcare organization in the country. The provider made headlines for ending transgender surgeries on children, but still has several racially focused initiatives in place. 

The aim of its Center for Black Health and Wellness is to “improve the health of our Black members, elevate their care experience, continue to build trust, create culturally responsive care, and best practices that can be shared across our organization and the health care community.”

Kaiser Permanente cites questionable research that black patients require black doctors for better health outcomes. It says the center is rooted in “equity” with the purpose of enhancing and expanding “the care of our Black patients.”

Another example cited in the letter included the University of California-San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital, which has a “Child and Adolescent Gender Center.” The center “offers comprehensive medical and psychological care, as well as advocacy and legal support, to transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse children and adolescents.”

The clinic accepts patients between the ages of 3 and 17. 

“Before the onset of puberty, our care focuses strictly on social and emotional development, and we don’t offer gender-affirming medical treatments,” the clinic said. “Once a patient reaches puberty, gender-affirming medical treatments may be considered following a thorough mental health assessment by a gender specialist.”

The clinic offers puberty blockers to kids, treatments it claims are “reversible.” Groups like Do No Harm have highlighted how puberty blockers can permanently impact bone development, particularly density in the hip and spine.

Consumers’ Research has launched the “Bad Medicine” campaign targeting health systems it says push woke politics. Last week, it highlighted how the University of Miami Health System recently scrubbed DEI and transgender-related content from its website. 

Hild told lawmakers that hospitals should be held accountable for woke policies. 

“This isn’t isolated activism. These kinds of misguided and potentially illegal policies must be stopped,” Hild wrote. “It is imperative for patients that hospitals return to their core mission of patient care and use federal funding as it was intended.”