OCR Facilitates Safe Clergy Access for Patients at Mt. Sinai Hospital During COVID-19
Today, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces the resolution of a religious discrimination complaint, thus ensuring clergy access to patients for religious purposes during the COVID-19 pandemic for the entire Mt. Sinai Health System in New York (Mt. Sinai).
On August 5, 2020, a Jewish community advocacy organization filed a complaint with OCR alleging that several hospitals in various hospital systems in New York, including Mt. Sinai in Manhattan, were denying Jewish patients access to clergy in both COVID and non-COVID units. In one instance at Mt. Sinai, the complaint alleged that a Jewish patient was unable to obtain access to Kosher food; after asking for his rabbi to come to help the patient locate Kosher food, the hospital said that his rabbi could not visit due to concerns about COVID-19. Another Jewish patient at Mt. Sinai was
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