Good News: Midwest Hospital Drops Race-Based COVID Discrimination

A Midwestern hospital chain recently put the kibosh on a key demand from radical activists. Missouri-based SSM Health reversed its plans to dole out COVID-19 treatments based in part on race. Physicians and patients alike should celebrate this victory over discrimination in healthcare.

SSM’s move came after the hospital initially jumped on the discrimination bandwagon. During the COVID spike late last year, activists pushed to get hospitals and other medical providers to take race into account when distributing monoclonal antibody treatments. Specifically, they wanted to force physicians to give more treatments to minority patients, while withholding those treatments from others.

That’s discrimination – and that was the point. The divisive ideology behind this policy explicitly holds that skin color should determine who gets medical care. Yet that cuts at the heart of health care. Patients should get the best medical care regardless of who they are, what they look like, or where they come from. Each and every patient deserves personalized care, without exception.

SSM’s decision is a victory for fairness. It’s also proof that concerned Americans can drive positive change. The hospital chain took action after receiving a letter from a public interest group in Wisconsin, where it operates eight facilities. The about-face should inspire more physicians and patients to speak out and oppose radical ideology at every level of healthcare.

After all, this Midwestern hospital isn’t the only one trying to discriminate by race. And it’s not the only one where public pressure can make a difference.