Hospital Chaplain Fired for Objecting To Gideons' Bible Distributions

Jews on First yesterday reported on the forced resignation of hospital chaplain Rev. Kay Myers by Salisbury, Maryland's Peninsula Regional Medical Center after she raised objections to Gideons going room-to-room delivering Christian Bibles to hospital patients. The Bibles contained only the New Testament and the book of Psalms. Not only was Myers, a Presbyterian minister, concerned about keeping the hospital's chaplaincy non-sectarian, but she also feared that giving the Gideons access violated patient privacy under HIPAA. In addition, the hospital's infection control department was concerned that the Bibles might harbor resistant organisms. Hospital CEO Alan Newberry told Myers that as Director of Pastoral Care, she should be taking the lead in placing Bibles in patient rooms.