The investigation comes after allegations of racism and discrimination following the death of Kira Dixon Johnson in 2016; she delivered her second son at the hospital by cesarean section but died hours later from hemorrhaging. Her husband filed lawsuits against the hospital and a physician, which have since been settled.
HHS’ Office of Civil Rights told the Times it “has been made aware of concerns regarding the standard of care provided to Black women in the care of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Specifically, OCR is aware of allegations that Black women are provided a standard of care below what is provided to other women who are not Black when receiving healthcare services related to labor and delivery.”
The agency is reviewing whether the hospital is complying with federal civil rights laws. It declined to provide further information, citing the active investigation.
A hospital spokesperson told Becker’s, “Cedars-Sinai clinicians, leaders and researchers have long been concerned with national disparities in Black maternal health, and we are proud of the work we’ve done (and continue to do) to address these issues in Los Angeles as well as at the state and national levels.”
Hospital officials pointed to their work to improve maternal health outcomes and noted they are conducting clinical studies aimed at improving Black maternal and infant health, providing annual unconscious bias training to staff and giving more than $2.2 million in grants to local nonprofit organizations seeking to improve Black maternal health.
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