Milford Regional Medical Center’s announcement about rules for its “inclusive environment” caused a recent stir with a warning to potential patients that they must follow a specific code of conduct to access their services.

Dr. Peter Smulowitz, chief medical officer at the Massachusetts medical center, had released a now-unlisted video on the hospital’s official YouTube channel Jan. 3 explaining how not just staff, but patients themselves, are held accountable for causing offense, ranging from rhetoric to a hostile tone of voice.

“Everyone should expect a safe, caring and inclusive environment in all our spaces,” Smulowitz said. {snip}

He specified that some examples of unacceptable conduct would be “offensive comments about others’ ace, ethnicity, accent, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other personal traits; refusal to see a clinician or other staff member based on these personal traits; aggressive or intimidating behavior, physical or verbal threats and assaults; sexual or vulgar words or actions; and disrupting another patient’s care or experience.”

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