Nonprofit hospitals called out for prioritizing politics over patients

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(The Center Square) – Consumer protection organization Consumers’ Research launched a campaign to warn Congress about nonprofit hospitals that prioritize "woke" politics such as diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender ideology for minors, and climate extremism over their patients.

Executive director of Consumers’ Research Will Hild told The Center Square that “it is appalling to see hospitals indulge in woke politics while their patients struggle with long waits, surprise bills, and a continuous lack of price transparency.”

“Consumers are right to be fed up, especially when their tax dollars are underwriting activism,” Hild said.

“They see how nonprofit hospitals are abusing their privileges to prioritize everything from DEI to trans ideology for kids to climate extremism, and beyond,” Hild said.

Hild noted that “nonprofit status is not an automatic right; it is a public subsidy granted in exchange for a public benefit.”

“Every cent and second spent on left-wing activism is money and time taken away from patients,” Hild said.

“New York-Presbyterian and CommonSpirit Health…are just two of many examples of nonprofit hospitals using taxpayer dollars to push an ideological agenda,” Hild said of the two hospitals included in his organization’s campaign. “As this new campaign shows, Consumers' Research will continue exposing woke hospitals and hold them accountable.”

Neither New York-Presbyterian nor CommonSpirit Health have yet to respond to The Center Square’s individual requests for comment.

Consumers’ Research’s campaign against woke hospitals includes a mobile billboard on Capitol Hill and a website, according to media relations.

On the website, Consumers’ Research stated that both New York-Presbyterian and CommonSpirit Health prioritize “woke politics over patients.”

For instance, Consumers’ Research revealed that New-York Presbyterian’s 2025 Health Equity Report stated that “advancing health justice is essential to our organization’s mission and key part of our strategic framework.”

New York-Presbyterian also runs the Dalio Center For Health Justice which, according to its website, aims “to understand and address the root causes of health inequities with the goal of setting a new standard of health for the communities we serve.”

According to Consumers’ Research’s campaign website, New York-Presbyterian promotes “‘health equity for all’ through community partnerships.” 

The website also revealed that New York-Presbyterian operates “The Compass Program,” which is “a program that supports transgenderism in children.”

According to Consumers’ Research, New York-Presbyterian Pediatrician-In-Chief Sallie Permar “advocated for transgender intervention on kids and pledged to continue ‘providing gender-affirming care to our transgender youth.’” 

“She also committed to ‘fight against legislation’ limiting access to ‘gender-affirming care’ and to advocate for transgender youth as a ‘vulnerable population,’” the website said.

CommonSpirit Health also has a hand in “woke politics,” Hild said, as it runs an Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging.

According to the office’s website, it “leads” the “health equity strategy for CommonSpirit” by “promoting a workforce that represents the diversity of…patients, families, and communities,” “ensuring health equity is embedded across [its] sites of care,” as well as “removing barriers through economic empowerment while addressing systemic racism.”

CommonSpirit also has a “five-pillars approach to create equity for all and lists ‘advocating for social justice’ as a key pillar ‘especially when it comes to healthcare access,’” Consumers’ Research wrote.

Consumers’ Research stated that “CommonSpirit collaborated with Morehouse School of Medicine to push DEI through a $100 million initiative ‘focused on increasing the number of clinicians who are Black or from other underrepresented populations.’”

Beyond DEI, CommonSpirit Health promotes transgender ideology, according to Consumers’ Research, “through a systemwide steering committee to ‘ensure standardized training and policies related to best practices for preferred pronouns, gender-neutral restrooms, and family visitation.’”

Additionally, “in 2023, a report was released that exposed how CommonSpirit was offering transgender surgeries and hormone treatments, including providing these transgender interventions to kids,” Consumers’ Research said.

Consumers’ Research also revealed that “CommonSpirit integrated radical climate goals through its “Race To Zero” campaign targeting net-zero emissions by 2040.”

Consumers’ Research’s campaign comes ahead of the House Committee on Ways & Means’ Tuesday hearing “on the impact of rising health care costs on patients and families.”