The CEO of an Indiana hospital is facing backlash over a statement about the death of black doctor Susan Moore, who died of COVID-19 at the facility after filming a viral video about her treatment, ABC News reports.
Moore shared a video a few weeks before her death claiming abuse by hospital staff because of the color of her skin. She says she was forced to leave the hospital despite still having symptoms.
“This is how black people are killed,” Moore said in the video. “If you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves.”
“I did and I keep insisting that if I was white, I shouldn’t have to go through that,” she added.
Dennis M. Murphy, president and CEO of Indiana University Hospital, issued a press release on December 24 in response to Moore’s death, writing that he was “deeply saddened” by what happened, and “even more saddened by the experience she described in the video. “
Despite his expressed sympathy and call for an outside investigation, some activists accuse Murphy, according to ABC News, of “accusing victims.”
In the statement, Murphy wrote that staff were working hard to treat a “ complex patient in the midst of a pandemic crisis ” and that they “ may have been intimidated by a knowledgeable patient who used social media to voice her concerns and criticize. the care. they were in labor. “
Dr. Theresa Chapple, a black physician and public health advocate, took to Twitter to voice her concerns about the statement, writing that it made her feel “gaslit.”
I have not tweeted about Dr. Moore, frankly, I still mourn the death of Dr. Wallace.
But after reading the hospital statement, I feel gaseous.
Nurses “may have been intimidated by a knowledgeable patient who used social media to voice her concerns and criticism– Dr. Theresa Chapple (@Theresa_Chapple) December 27, 2020
Christie VanHorne, a New York-based public health advocate, echoed Chapple’s sentiments.
“It’s frankly a shame on the medical profession that they would blame the victim and the nursing team,” she told ABC News. “To say the nurses were intimidated by the patient is absolutely ridiculous if she was just trying to stand up for herself.”
Dennis Murphy, CEO of Indiana University Hospital, said in a statement to The Hill that the comments in the press release were “intended to reassure our community of IU Health’s commitment to taking its concerns seriously and honestly investigating, in accordance with with our values of compassion, excellence and purpose. Since then I have come to recognize that the words I chose did not reflect my intention, which is to prevent something like this from happening again. “
Murphy said the hospital would conduct a third-party review of patient care protocols and procedures in addition to an internal investigation.
“Whatever the findings, we will own the results and take whatever steps are necessary to uphold our commitment to equality and racial justice for our patients. And we will earnestly and humbly seek continuous feedback from our patients. , staff, partners and local communities about our progress, ”said Murphy.