Rights Groups Ask HEW to Act on Charges of Racial Discrimination in 16 Hospital
Press Release
September 3, 1965

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Press Releases, Volume 3. Rights Groups Ask HEW to Act on Charges of Racial Discrimination in 16 Hospital, 1965. 36121341-b692-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/148603c6-eb79-49f0-b89f-3169a9fc604f/rights-groups-ask-hew-to-act-on-charges-of-racial-discrimination-in-16-hospital. Accessed April 28, 2025.
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10 Columbus Circle New York, N.Y. 10019 * JUdson 6-8397 NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund PRESS RELEASE President FOR RELEASE Dr. Allan Knight Chalmers Friday Director-Counsel ee ptenber 3, 1965 Jack Greenberg RIGHTS GROUPS ASK HEW TO ACT ON CHARGES OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN 16 HOSPITALS Legal Defense Fund and NAACP Jointly File Complaints WASHINGTON--Charges of racial discrimination were filed here today against 16 federally assisted hospitals in eight southern states by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the NAACP, The new charges make a total of 126 filed by the two independent organizations since last February. In a letter to John W. Gardner, secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Jack Greenberg, Legal Defense Fund director-counsel, and J, Francis Pohlhaus, NAACP Washington Bureau counsel, asked that "appropriate action be taken to insure immediate compliance with the nondiscrimination provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and departmental regulations." Hospitals in Alabama, North and South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana are accused of discriminating against Negro patients, employees, physicians, nurses and nursing students in*the complaints, which were filed on behalf of persons affected by the discrimination. In one, Searcy Hospital, Mt. Vernon, Ala., the complaint charges that Negro ward attendants are assigned to Negro wards which are inferior to those reserved for whites, The Negro attendants are paid lower monthly salaries than their white counterparts, the complaint alleges. The complaints similarly charges the hospital with setting a lower salary scale for Negro nurses, and with permitting a policy whereby Negro nurses must perform extraneous chores such as house- work for a white supervisor in order to qualify for raises, while white nurses get automatic promotions every six months, Orangeburg Regional Hospital, Orangeburg, S. C., is charged ~ with continuing to segregate Negro and white patients destitecn. A federal court order for desegregation. (more) Jesse DeVore, Jr., Director of Public Information—Night Number 212 Riverside 9-8487 Sos as Rights Groups Ask HEW To Act On Charges September 3, 1965 Of Racial Discrimination In 16 Hospitals In Raleigh, N. C., Rex Hospital is accused of refusing to admit Negro in-patients, and having no Negro physicians on its staff and no Negro students in its school of nursing. Similarly, Kershaw County Memorial Hospital, Camden, S. C., is 4 charged with refusing to allow Negro doctors to practice in the facility. As a result, the complaint alleges, few Negro physicians | are attracted to the city, leaving its Negro population largely dependent on white doctors. Under Title VI, the Department of Health, Education aédWelfare can withhold federal funds from hospitals guilty of discrimination, However, a Legal Defense Fund spokesman last week accused the department of failing in its responsibilities under the law, Michael Meltsner, a Fund staff attorney, in a letter to James Quigley, HEW assistant secretary, said that only about 20 hospitals had peen hers in compliance with Title VI after HEW investigation of theft rst 110 complaints. EW's failure to take action against the remaining hospitals has led many to conclude that Title VI is a "paper tiger," Meltsner said. Named in yesterday's complaints were the Board of Trustees Alabama State Hospitals (Searcy Hospital, Mt. Vernon, Ala.); e Beaufort County Hospital, Beaufort, N. C.; Moorehead City Hospital, 4 bse me Moorehead City, N. C.; Burgaw Hospital, Burgaw, N. C. Also, Robeson County Hospital, Robeson County, N. C.; Whitfield Memorial Hospital, Demopolis, Ala.; Kahn Memorial Hospital, : Marshall, Texas; St. Joseph's Hospital, Tampa, Fla.; Orangeburg Regional Hospital, Orangeburg, S, C.; Athens General Hospital, * Athens, Ga. And, Bedford County General Hospital, Shelbyville, Tenn.; Rex Hospital, Raieigh, N.C.; Washington County Hospital, Chipley, Fla.; Kershaw County Memorial Hospital, Camden, S. C,; Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, Lake Charles, La., and Talmadge Hospital, : Augusta, Ga, = *e cs =30-