When you walk into a hospital coughing up blood and complaining of unrelenting pain, you anticipate receiving attentive care and attention to figure out what is going on. It’s a scary time. Sometimes you have a family member or two with you and, other times, you wander into the hospital alone and quite aimlessly with the hopes of finding comfort somewhere amidst the tan walls and beige rooms. When you are met instead with hate and intolerance, you may feel alone and quite confused. This is exactly what happened to a recent patient named Erin Vaught.

Vaught, a trans woman, entered Ball Memorial Hospital in East Central Indiana on July 18, 2010 and was instantly met with discrimination. Upon checking in with her wife and son at the admissions desk, Vaught was ridiculed and disrespected for being transgender. She showed her identification card to the workers, but was entered into the system as “male” instead of “female” even though her ID stated otherwise. When she pushed the issue, they flat-out denied changing the entry in the system.

Disrespectful comments flew around the exam room when healthcare workers and nurses asked Vaught’s wife if her wife was a “he-she”, “it” or “transvestite."Giggling and discomfort were the doctor’s orders that day, which reportedly devastated Vaught and her immediate family standing beside her. After a two-hour wait, a doctor approached Vaught and told her that she couldn’t treat her because of her “condition."Replying that her condition was the fact that she was coughing up blood with no knowledge as to why, the doctor further explained that she was referring to her “transgender condition”.

Ball Memorial Hospital President Michael E. Haley made the following statement in regards to the incident: “Recently, the Hospital has been made aware of certain electronic comments posted on the internet. These comments have been referred for internal review. And, should there be any merit to the concerns expressed in the comments, the Hospital will respond in the appropriate manner.” Haley explained that the policy would also apply to transgender people.

According to Ball Memorial Hospital’s official website:

BMH is the largest non-government employer in East Central Indiana, employing nearly 3,000 people with a payroll exceeding $110 million. This not-for-profit organization boasts of a clinical staff of more than 400 physicians, representing over 45 medical specialties.  

Facebook is buzzing with posts and comments reprimanding Ball Memorial Hospital and their staff for their treatment of Vaught and other transgender patients. If you’d like to join the discussion, you may do so here: Ball Memorial Hospital Facebook Page.

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