Ethical Issues in Healthcare

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Brief News Case Presentation
Case Study Overview
Issue Definition
Impact on Business
Human Resource Response
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The issue of ethics has always been one of the central problems in the context of the US healthcare system organization. However, among the existing variety of cases, the notion of racial discrimination has undoubtedly become the most challenging and resonant. According to the researchers, despite decades of policies introduced to combat the issue, racial discrimination, and the disparity between the working conditions of White and Black employees still remain some of the most challenging aspects of HR management (Williams & Cooper, 2019). Thus, while the modern approach to HR management in healthcare is using various strategies in order to eliminate the problem, cases of racial discrimination are still more than common across the state healthcare system. In terms of the following presentation, a recent precedent considering racial discrimination in the workplace will be analyzed on the matter of ethical issues and means of case management.

Brief News Case Presentation

The news case tackled in the following presentation occurred in San Francisco, California, in 2020. According to the information provided by the news website, in October of 2020, eight Black female healthcare employees filed a suit against the local health department due to the issue of explicit racial discrimination (Egelko, 2020). As was mentioned in the suit, the reasons for filing a legal complaint were rather diverse, encompassing unlawful firing, payment cuts, and exposure to health hazards (Egelko, 2020). The suit itself has attracted the attention of the local Department of Human Resources which issued an official statement about discrimination in the workplace in San Francisco. According to the department, the tendency to undermine labor rights among the African American community has been a common practice in the area.

Case Study Overview

Considering the complaints mentioned in the suit, some of the major discrimination precedents may be outlined:

Facing health danger. Cheryl Thornton, a healthcare department clerk, was sent to the sidewalks of San Francisco to screen the residents for COVID-19, but the personal protection equipment (PPE) was given for the patients only (Egelko, 2020). As a result, one of the patients sneezed on Cheryl, and she had to go home immediately. After filing an official complaint, Cheryl was transferred to another department with no option of overtime payment.
Job opportunities loss. Another lawsuit plaintiff, Donna James, was not signed up for the training program that presupposed hiring and qualification improvement as a social worker nearly 20 times (Egelko, 2020). Jo-Theresa Elian-Jackson was discriminated against in professional growth and pay rise after the department administration made her go on a disability leave involuntarily (Egelko, 2020).
Discrimination. Kim Lynch, a local drug abuse counselor, was not allowed to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak (Egelko, 2020).

Issue Definition

Having considered the situation above, it becomes evident that the major ethical issue tackling the San Francisco health department is explicit racial discrimination and inequality in the workplace. According to the report mentioned in the news case, such precedents are quite common in the area (Egelko, 2020). Moreover, the ethical issue becomes ever more serious, considering the fact that the state of California is believed to be one of the most ethnically diverse communities in the country. Still, the local government seems to deny the presence of issues such as racial discrimination in the workplace.

Impact on Business

When speaking of such issues as racial discrimination and explicit inequality promotion, it is rather difficult to place emphasis on the problem’s impact on business. Unquestionably, the discussion of racial inequality in the modern environment inevitably results in a major disadvantage for any business endeavor. The reason for such a reaction is the fact that today’s social environment is focused on the matters of ethical relationships and equality, considering the precedents taking place in the world. However, when taking into account the discussed lawsuit, its impact has now become a full-scale public issue that draws attention to the unlawful events occurring in community healthcare services. It would be safe to say the impact was, by all means, devastating for the local health department because the authorities failed to evaluate the scope of the issue in a timely manner. As a result, once the problem gained public recognition, the authorities’ attempt to ignore the situation and withdraw from the comments resulted in their implicit guilty plea.

Human Resource Response

According to the news case, the response of the Human Resource department and administration was rather ambiguous, as the facility refused to take responsibility for its actions (Egelko, 2020). In some cases, for example, the situation that happened to Cheryl Thornton, local supervisors tried to cover the complications of the precedent by transferring the employee to another department. However, once the community was informed about the situation, such a decision made it even more difficult for HR to find a proper justification for their actions. Moreover, the head of the health department willingly refused to make any comments regarding the situation, saying that the authorities were already doing their best to eliminate racial discrimination in the area (Egelko 2020). Hence, the overall response was not sufficient to handle the situation and public reaction.

Could the Case Have Been Prevented?

The following question has always been one of the hardest to answer due to the fact that the issue of racial discrimination can only be prevented by its elimination whatsoever. Thus, when regarding this particular case, it is right to assume that the situation could not have been totally prevented, as racism is a widespread social challenge that cannot be tracked and controlled. One of the means to prevent the scope of discrimination is the introduction of human resource policies that explicitly describe the complications of discrimination in the workplace. Although it still would not eliminate the possibility of implicit racism, one of the major challenges for HR in such situations is to respond immediately in order to minimize the impact of the precedent. For example, instead of trying to defend themselves or ignore the problem, it would be efficient for the department to make a public apology and ensure the prevention of similar actions in the future.

Conclusion

Having taken everything into consideration, it may be concluded that various ethical issues have always been a challenging aspect of HR management in the sphere of healthcare. Hence, the following presentation was aimed at describing the issue of racial discrimination on the example of a news case about the San Francisco health department lawsuit. Throughout the precedent analysis, it was estimated that the issue has a tremendous impact on the public image of the local healthcare system. Moreover, the HR department and San Francisco authorities failed to provide residents with proper justification for their actions, therefore undermining their reputation.

References

Egelko, B. (2020).. Eight Black workers sue S.F. health department for racial discrimination. San Francisco Chronicle. Web.

Williams, D. R., & Cooper, L. A. (2019). Reducing racial inequities in health: Using what we already know to take action. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(4), 606–632. Web.

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