Q Toon: Health Care POA DOA

It seems like only two years ago that President Obama signed a directive that all hospitals that accept federal funding must allow patients' same-sex partners visitation rights. Why, yes, it was exactly two years ago this past Monday, in fact.

Last week, Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, hauled a patient's civil-union-husband away from his bedside in spite of that directive, and had him arrested for being "disruptive." The hospital even went so far as to file a restraining order against the C-U-H of five years, Roger Gorley.

“I was not recognized as being the husband, I wasn’t recognized as being the partner,” Gorley explained.
He said the nurse refused to confirm that the couple shared power of attorney and made medical decision for each other.
“She didn’t even bother to look it up, to check in to it,” the Lee’s Summit resident recalled.

The hospital defends itself by noting that it was the family of the patient who wanted Gorley evicted from his husband's room, and they were merely respecting the wishes of "the family":

We believe involving the family is an important part of the patient care process. And, the patient's needs are always our first priority. When anyone becomes disruptive to providing the necessary patient care, we involve our security team to help calm the situation and to protect our patients and staff. If the situation continues to escalate, we have no choice but to request police assistance.

Happily, I have a good relationship with my husband's family and he with mine, but you can be sure that either of us would raise a stink if we were prevented from seeing the other in the hospital.