HHS’ Civil Rights Office Investigates Alleged Discrimination in Health Care Workforce and Training to Restore Merit-Based Opportunity

OCR Opens Four Investigations of Medical Schools and Hospitals for Operating Medical Education, Training or Scholarship Programs with Race- or Sex-Based Criteria

In alignment with President Trump’s Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is announcing investigations into four medical schools and hospitals under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (Section 1557).

These investigations are in response to allegations and information OCR received that certain medical schools and hospitals that receive HHS funding may operate medical education, training, or scholarship programs for current or prospective workforce members that discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex.  National policy under Executive Order 14173 directs federal agencies to enforce long-standing civil rights laws and “to combat illegal private sector [diversity, equity and inclusion] DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”

“Today’s actions restore merit-based opportunities in medicine and signify that hard-working health care professionals and high-achieving students in the pipeline for medical and nursing fields should not be demeaned at work, or excluded from professional or scholarship opportunities, because of their race or sex,” said Anthony Archeval, Acting Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS.

Under Executive Order 14173, each agency, in coordination with the Attorney General, is required to identify “nine potential civil compliance investigations” of corporations, associations, foundations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars as part of a strategic enforcement plan.

If you believe that you or someone else has been discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, or religion in programs or activities that HHS directly operates or to which HHS provides federal financial assistance, you may file a complaint with the HHS Office for Civil Rights at: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/filing-a-complaint/index.html.

Follow HHS OCR on X (formerly Twitter) at @HHSOCR.