The University of Maryland Medical System has amended its COVID-19 visitor policy to allow clergy visitation after one of its hospitals denied access to a Catholic priest who was asked to administer sacraments to a trauma patient injured in a car accident.
UMMS has revised its visitor policy to adhere to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ guidelines at all 13 hospitals in its medical system, including Prince George’s Hospital Center, which was at the center of a religious discrimination complaint due to its restrictive visitation policies in response to the coronavirus pandemic. CMS guidelines stipulate that hospitals “must ensure patients have adequate and lawful access to chaplains or clergy.”
The changes come after a complaint was filed with the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.
Sidney and Susanna Marcus were admitted to Prince George’s Hospital Center of the University of Maryland Medical System after a severe car accident in May. Sidney Marcus, who sustained life-threatening injuries, was moved to the intensive care unit as his conditions declined.
His wife, Susanna, requested that a priest provide the Catholic religious sacraments of Holy Communion and Anointing of the Sick for Sidney, the HHS said in a press release. The hospital denied the request, however, which prompted Susana Marcus to file a complaint.
“Despite being willing to wear any necessary personal protective equipment, the priest was turned away by the hospital based on a visitor exclusion policy it had adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the HHS said.
After the complaint, Sidney Marcus was allowed to have a priest visit him in the ICU.
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Blake Fussell
