The religious hospital Providence Alaska Medical Center does not allow ministers to visit their parishioners who are in the hospital, a pastor has told Must Read Alaska.
The pastor, of a protestant Christian faith, said the hospital told him that only hospital chaplains and police chaplains are allowed to see patients and that patients’ own ministers are prohibited from visiting them in the hospital. The pastor said the decision was kicked up the chain through four decision makers, until he was finally denied the visit to his parishioner.
A similar case in Maryland was challenged in July by that state’s Office of Civil Rights, which ended up settling with Prince George Hospital in an agreement that forced the hospital to ensure a patient’s right to religious visitation, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
