Federal officials have opened an investigation into the Cleveland Clinic over its race-based programs after a conservative legal firm accused the healthcare provider of racial discrimination.
The Department of Health and Human Services’s Office of Civil Rights said last week that it was investigating the Cleveland Clinic over its promotion of its “Minority Stroke Program” and the “Minority Men’s Health Center,” according to a letter from HHS shared with The Daily Wire.
The department was alerted to the programs by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), which filed a complaint on August 14 on behalf of Do No Harm accusing the clinic of engaging in racial discrimination. Do No Harm is an organization dedicated to depoliticizing medicine.
In response to the complaint, HHS official Daniel Shieh wrote to WILL on September 10 informing them that the agency was opening an official inquiry into allegations that the clinic “treats white individuals differently from certain racial and ethnic minorities in the tailoring and provision of services.”
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“OCR has reviewed the complaint and has determined that it has sufficient authority and cause to investigate the allegations under its authorities,” Shieh wrote. “Therefore, we have initiated an investigation and will contact you should we need any additional information.”
WILL lawyer Cara Tolliver told The Daily Wire that the Minority Stroke Program and the Minority Men’s Health Center disregard care for an “entire class of individuals” who are not deemed minorities.
“The problem however is that these patient programs are limited to certain racial minorities and segregated on the basis of race which violated anti-discrimination laws,” Tolliver told The Daily Wire. “HHS’s decision to open an investigation into Cleveland Clinic is a hopeful step forward to illuminating unlawful uses of race in healthcare in favor of an individualized and race neutral approach to medicine that conforms with law.”
The clinic, which has some 48,000 employees, says that its minority stroke program is “focused on preventing and treating stroke in racial and ethnic minorities” and increasing “stroke awareness among minority groups in order to lower stroke rates and improve stroke outcomes.”
Tolliver noted that the clinic did not have any other racially-focused programs for white people, who may have higher rates of Parkinson’s disease or skin cancer.
After the complaint was filed last month, the clinic removed references to the Minority Men’s Health Center from its website, telling The Daily Wire that the center “has not been in place for several years.” It said that the minority stroke program “is still active and is open to all patients.”
If HHS determines that Cleveland Clinic is in violation of the law, the clinic may voluntarily comply and adapt the programs. If it refuses, its access to federal funds could be suspended or terminated.
Tolliver said that health care providers should not focus on skin color but treatment, and that racially-focused programs could be “particularly problematic and dangerous.”
“These types of health equity initiatives are relying on broad stereotypes about race to assume needs and they’re inherently overlooking individuals who are in need or would benefit from special care or attention,” she said.
