Hospital administrators are concerned that a federal immigration program encroaches on the privacy of patient information, according to Southern California Public Radio.
The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement rolled out an investigative program in Orange County, Calif., last November in an effort to gather information on immigration and potential criminal activity, reports SCPR. But when ICE officials visited Mission Viejo, Calif.-based Mission Hospital last February, hospital officials asked them to leave.
"[I]t was determined that there was no need for them to be here from a medical care perspective and a hospital is a place for medical care and anybody in the community is free to use that," Deb Franko, the hospital's executive director of communications and marketing, told SCPR.
ICE policy considers hospitals "sensitive locations" and deems them off-limits for searches, interviews, arrests and surveillance unless the action has been approved by a supervisor. Schools, places of worship and political demonstrations are also protected sites.
Additionally, federal HIPAA laws prohibit the disclosure of medical records, unless there is a court subpoena. Even then, the patient may object to the release of information.
Martin Gallegos, senior vice president of health policy and communications with the Los Angeles-based Hospital Association of Southern California, added that hospitals do not ask patient immigration status during intake procedures, so there should be no reason for ICE to seek information from patient records.
Ms. Franko added that Mission wants the hospital to be a place where everyone feels welcome to seek medical care without fear or hesitation.
More articles on legal & regulatory issues:
US appeals court finds federal government wrongly allowed California to cut Medicaid reimbursement
Police: Man stayed in Phoenix hospital's basement, stole $36k worth of equipment
Man accused of killing physician over botched prostate surgery 21 years prior