Congressional lawmakers will be warned on Tuesday about hospitals that may be promoting left-wing activism under the guise of benefiting their communities.
The House Ways and Means Committee will meet to examine how tax-exempt hospitals have pushed diversity, equity, and inclusion, climate activism, and radical gender ideology. The hearing will focus on nonprofit hospitals that have spent money on political activities critics say have no community benefit. To keep their tax-exempt status, nonprofit hospitals must commit to providing a community benefit through charity and other initiatives.
One of those who will testify before lawmakers is Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers’ Research, a watchdog organization that has launched numerous public awareness campaigns about the politicization of medicine. Hild will urge lawmakers to consider ways to require nonprofit hospitals to be more transparent about how they spend their money and how much their procedures cost.
“Are programs that push a specific, left-wing political agenda being claimed as a community benefit? Without clear reporting requirements, Members of Congress and taxpayers cannot be sure what hospitals are using tax dollars to fund,” Hild will say, according to a copy of his written testimony obtained by The Daily Wire.
“This misprioritization of politics over patients distracts hospitals from their core mission and can compromise the quality of treatment and increase costs, which can put consumers in serious physical and financial danger,” he will add.
Hild’s testimony also says that many hospitals have used the language of “community benefit” to cloak “partisan political activity.” He will ask Congress to “require line-item disclosure and outcome measures for any equity spending that is claimed as community benefit.”
Much of Hild’s testimony will draw from a June report published by Consumers’ Research, highlighting “woke hospitals.” The hospitals in question included the Cleveland Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical Clinic, Henry Ford Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
“Our research highlighting nonprofit health systems promoting a political agenda is particularly alarming given their eligibility for millions of dollars in federal funding, and government-mandated savings programs in addition to the core benefit of tax-exempt status,” Hild’s testimony states. “This means taxpayers are often left footing the bill for hospitals’ political activism. American taxpayers are entitled to increased transparency and assurance that hospitals are using their money judiciously and that requirements such as community benefit are legitimately being met.”
The June report highlighted various DEI programs at the various hospitals. For example, the Cleveland Clinic created “diversity pipeline talent management,” while Vanderbilt University Medical Clinic hosted a lecture on “infusing DEI in our research programs.”
In terms of climate activism, the report highlighted Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s initiative aimed at “decarbonizing radiology” and the Cleveland Clinic’s goal of “greening its operating rooms.”
Several of the hospital systems have also pushed transgender procedures on children. For example, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital offers cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers for children. From its official X account, Henry Ford Health, said that teens should be “allowed to transition” or their mental health would be harmed.
Multiple of the hospital systems targeted by Consumers’ Research have rejected claims that they have pushed ideology.
In a statement to The Daily Wire, Henry Ford Health said that it “respects and fully complies with all state and federal anti-discrimination laws. For more than a century, Henry Ford Health has been fully committed to serving Michigan’s richly diverse communities, providing health care services and employment opportunities to everyone. Our commitment to non-discrimination remains steadfast.”
The Cleveland Clinic also told The Daily Wire that it “is compliant with all state and federal laws and firmly refutes the numerous false and intentionally misleading assertions made by Consumers’ Research. As a nonpartisan organization, Cleveland Clinic neither holds nor promotes any political agenda.”
The clinic said that its community benefit donations totaled $1.46 billion in 2023.
