RUTLAND — A petition signed by 39 employees at Rutland Regional Medical Center, submitted Wednesday, asks hospital leadership to improve education and increase awareness among staff and administrators about issues of racial justice.
Employees requested that the hospital’s leadership, including Claudio Fort, CEO, and Mike Solimano, chair of the board of directors, require implicit bias training for all staff, raise a Black Lives Matter flag over the hospital, and issue a public statement acknowledging the presence of racism in the health care system.
The petition, written by emergency room nurse Ryn Gluckman in collaboration with other RRMC staff and the Rutland chapter of the NAACP, comes amid state and nationwide protests responding to the killing of George Floyd. Several demonstrations have been held in Rutland.
Systemic racism in the medical system has been cited as a reason why black Americans have tested positive for Covid-19 in disproportionate numbers, Fort and Solimano said and they agreed Thursday to meet with petition organizers.
In response to VTDigger’s request for comment, RRMC officials wrote that “the events of the past week have inflicted much anger, heartache, and despair upon our already wounded nation.”
“They have exposed the effects of systemic racism in our society and institutions,” they wrote. “As an organization that is committed to healing, we recognize that this is an opportunity to address racism in healthcare and the impact of health disparities on our community. The leadership of Rutland Regional Medical Center is committed to working to advance efforts to recognize and address unconscious bias and inequality in our organization and to eliminate health disparities in our community.”
Data compiled by the Vermont Department of Health indicates that black Vermonters have tested positive for Covid-19 at nearly twice the rate of white people in the state. Nationally, the rate at which black people have died from Covid-19 is nearly double what would be expected based on their percentage of the population.
In response to these numbers, Tracy Dolan, deputy commissioner of the Department of Health, recently pointed to systemic racism in the country’s health care system. Many studies suggest the disparity relates to the biases of health care workers.
Gluckman, the petition organizer, says these biases exist at RRMC.
“It’s not the blatant refusal to treat somebody because of their race,” she said. “It’s, you know, the off-color joke that goes unchecked, or the suggestion that somebody might be drug-seeking.”
In 2016, Roger Speid, a former licensed nursing assistant at RRMC, filed a complaint against the hospital for alleged racial harassment. The complaint cited racially charged jokes made by colleagues and an incident in which a noose was hung from a door in Speid’s work area. That case was settled out of court in October 2017.
Gluckman said she was unfamiliar with Speid’s case when she wrote the petition, having joined RRMC two years ago.
“What I am familiar with is people of color who I know in the community approaching me with fear around going to Rutland because of past experiences,” she said. “I’ve also had, in the course of my care, patients complain about what they interpret as racially motivated behavior and poor care.”
But she warned that RRMC is not unique and, in terms of workplace culture, compares fairly well with other hospitals where she’s worked. “Please, do not misunderstand me: I do not think Rutland is different from any other hospital,” she said. “We have the same problems of racism that every other hospital has everywhere else in America.”
Michael Lawrie, a staff emergency room nurse at RRMC, also signed the petition. “During this whole Covid pandemic, we, in Rutland, have received so much community support,” he said. “Posters and food and appreciation. Here’s an opportunity for us, as a group, to stand up for the community.”
“I hope that we fly that BLM flag over the hospital,” Lawrie said. “I don’t think it’s a big deal, and I think it would mean a lot.”
