It's a clause nearly two decades overdue and takes up only a couple of lines in a medical log.
Jackson Memorial Hospital is finally allowing gays to visit and stay with their partners while they are in the hospital. The new policy was amended on Monday amid little fanfare, except in the gay community, which had been petitioning to get the hospital to change the rules for years.
The change was spurred in part because of a 2007 incident involving a woman named Lisa Pond. Pond was admitted to Jackson Memorial, but her longtime partner of 18 years, Janice Langbehn, was not allowed to visit Pond on her death bed.
"It gives me and my family some comfort to know that by sharing our story we have helped to change Jackson's policies for the better," said Langbehn in an Equality Florida press release about the change.
It's amazing that it took one of the largest public hospitals in the country this long to be inclusive, but what do you expect from a place mired in controversy and financial straits. We're just happy Jackson isn't charging visitors to see their loved ones to build revenue.
Under the new guidelines, gays would have the same rights as heterosexual couples, who can visit critically ill patients bedside, even after visiting hours. The new definition of "family" and "family members" now includes "spouses, domestic partners and both different-sex and same-sex significant others."
