Report Shows Mich. Health System Used Security More for Black Patients

The report is the focus of a lawsuit by its author against the University of Michigan Health System.

November 02, 2016 CS Staff

A former Michigan hospital administrator says she was fired for submitting an internal report showing her coworkers were more likely to call security officers when dealing with black patients or visitors than white ones.

Carmen Green filed a civil lawsuit against the University of Michigan Health System alleging she was fired as an act of retaliation for her report’s preliminary findings, according to mlive.com.

The health system said in a legal response that it “lacks sufficient knowledge or information to form an opinion regarding the truth of the allegations regarding the Plaintiff’s data analysis.” The system also claimed Green was fired after a climate assessment survey revealed she’d bullied co-workers and had leadership deficiencies.

Green’s study found that staff members requested assistance from hospital security officers in contacts with black patients and visitors “more than would be expected by their representation in the overall patient consensus.”

According to the study, black patients and visitors accounted for 11.96 percent of the patient population but were responsible for 26.88 percent of the calls for security officers. White patients and visitors, meanwhile, accounted for 62.76 percent of the calls for security officers and 79.1 percent of the patient population.

The study’s data set was taken over an eight year period between 2006 and 2014.

Green, who was terminated by the hospital in January of 2015, was the head of the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion. She remains an employee of the University of Michigan.

A trial for the lawsuit is set for December.

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