Gag could keep problems secret

bniolet — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:18:35 -0400

Vicki Smith, executive director of a patient rights group, is worried that the new Cherry Hospital code of conduct that tells workers not to say bad things about their workplace might have a "chilling effect" on people who want to report problems.

Hospital workers can call Disability Rights North Carolina, a federally-funded advocacy group, about problems they see at the workplace. Disability Rights keeps callers' names confidential, Smith said, and state and federal laws protect whistleblowers, Lynn Bonner reports.

But Smith worries that workers reading Cherry's policy may be discouraged from saying anything.

"This in no way should restrict people from stepping up and reporting abuse and neglect to hospital officials, or protection and advocacy systems, or other other officials with investigative authority," she said.

Cherry has already started rewriting the policy to make it clear that it is meant to discourage disruptive behavior.