Hispanics Face Discrimination in Hospitals

WASHINGTON-Officials at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released results from a study showing Hispanics are not as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have major surgery when hospitalized.

The branch of the US Department of Health and Human Services tracked 63 different medical conditions in California, New York, and Florida. They factored in income levels, disease severity, and insurance types when looking at more than 1.7 million hospital discharges. Hispanics were less likely to receive surgical procedures 38% of the time.

Researchers said the findings did not show why there were differences but gave them information to make healthcare aware that discrimination is occurring.

Information from www.houstonchronicle.com