Gay woman denied partner visit in Tennessee hospital

After Val Burke, formerly a contributer to Out and About, was repeatedly denied visit to her partner, a patient, the publication printed an account of her treatment. Then the Tennessee Equality Project got involved, phoning the hospital to confirm its participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs and reminding it of federal rules regarding such institutions and their treatment of gay patients.
     Today The Tennessean reported that the chief executive officer of Rolling Hills Hospital in Franklin plans to apologize for the "error."

“It was human error,” said Richard “Rick” Bangert, chief executive officer of Rolling Hills. “They made a mistake. When I learned of it, I immediately met with my staff on Monday. We immediately made the change in terms of making sure that our policy was very clear.”