Nondiscrimination Policy

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Discrimination is Against the Law. UK St. Claire complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. UK St. Claire does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

UK St. Claire provides:

• Free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as qualified sign language interpreters.
• Free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as qualified interpreters.

If you need these services, contact the nursing coordinator at 606.776.3318.

If you believe that UK St. Claire has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, you can file a grievance with: Patient Experience, 222 Medical Circle, Morehead, KY 40351, 606-783-6591 phone, 606-783-6368 fax, PatientExperience@st-claire.org. You can file a grievance in person, or by mail, fax or email.

You can also file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf, or by mail or phone at: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, SW Room 509F, HHH Building Washington, D.C. 20201, 1.800.368.1019, 800.537.7697 (TDD). Complaint forms are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html.

Speak Up™ Against Discrimination

It is undeniable that racism can harm patients’ health. This directly opposes The Joint Commission’s mission and vision to help accredited and certified organizations provide safe, high-quality health care for all people. The Joint Commission has standards to guide its organizations and help ensure that all people receive care that is free from discrimination.

The Joint Commission has no tolerance for bias or discrimination in its organizations. But we also know that institutional, systemic racism and bias still exist in health care. Differences in the quality of care received by patients or barriers and impediments to care can be due to:

• Access to care or lack of resources, such as Internet or transportation
• Age
• Education level
• Gender identity or expression
• Geographic location
• Language
• Physical or mental ability
• Race or ethnicity
• Religion or culture
• Sexual orientation
• Social and/or economic status

As a patient, you have a right to:

• Timely and appropriate care that is free from discrimination.
• Be treated with courtesy and respect.
• An interpreter, who can help you effectively communicate with your care providers in your preferred language.

What you can do:

If you feel you are being discriminated against and are experiencing substandard care, speak up! You can do so by:

• First, finding out about the hospital or health care organization’s policy for reporting complaints. If possible, try to work with the organization.
• Talking to the organization’s patient advocacy department (sometimes also called the patient liaison office or the patient advocacy team).
• Filing a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or with your state’s health department.
  • Learn more about filing a complaint at: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/filing-a-complaint/index.html.
  • File a complaint at: https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/smartscreen/main.jsf.
• Contacting the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
  • By phone: 202-514-3847
  • By phone device for the deaf (TTY): 202-514-0716

If your issue remains unaddressed and the organization is accredited or certified by The Joint Commission, you can speak up by reporting the patient safety concern to us.

• Online at: https://apps.jointcommission.org/QMSInternet/IncidentEntry.aspx
• By mail:
  Office of Quality and Patient Safety
  The Joint Commission
  One Renaissance Boulevard
  Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois 60181

Everyone deserves to be treated with respect. If you feel you are experiencing racist or discriminatory actions, speak up. By doing so, you may be helping future patients.