California Hospital Facing Federal Civil Rights Investigation for Treatment of Black Women in Childbirth

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is facing a federal civil rights investigation for the way it treats Black women who give birth at the Los Angeles hospital, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed to multiple outlets.

The investigation comes after Charles Johnson filed lawsuits against the institution following his wife Kira Dixon Johnson's death at age 39 after she gave birth to their second son together in April 2016.

“My wife would be here with her boys if it wasn’t for the color of her skin,” Johnson said at a press conference, per NBC News, echoing claims made in his complaint against the hospital. “After allowing my wife to bleed and suffer needlessly while my family and myself begged and pleaded with them to simply just treat her with dignity and respect.”

In 2019, Johnson told ABC News that he asked medical staff to help his wife after he saw blood in her catheter following her scheduled C-section. However, he said, “his pleas were ignored for hours.”

Kira died of internal bleeding when taken into a procedure room 10 hours later, Johnson said.

“The room started to look like a murder scene, a crime scene,” Angelique Washington, a former surgical technician in the operating room with Kira, said in a video deposition via NBC News. “Blood everywhere. I knew it didn’t feel good.”

According to the outlet, Johnson filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Cedars-Sinai and his wife’s doctor in March 2017 for wrongful death and emotional distress. He also filed a civil rights lawsuit against the hospital in May 2022, alleging racism and discrimination over their treatment of his wife.

Johnson told ABC News that both lawsuits were “resolved.”

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Melanie Fontes Rainer, the director of HHS’ Office of Civil Rights, said in a statement to Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, “Maternal health is a priority for the Biden-Harris Administration and one in which the HHS Office for Civil Rights is working on around the country to ensure equity and equality in health care. 

A spokesperson for Cedars-Sinai told the outlet in a statement, “Cedars-Sinai clinicians, leaders and researchers have long been concerned with national disparities in Black maternal health, and we are proud of the work we've done (and continue to do) to address these issues in Los Angeles as well as at the state and national levels.”

Cedars-Sinai did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on Wednesday.

A letter from the Office of Civil Rights obtained by the LA Times states that the organization “has been made aware of concerns regarding the standard of care provided to Black women in the care of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.”

“Specifically, OCR is aware of allegations that Black women are provided a standard of care below what is provided to other women who are not Black when receiving health care services related to labor and delivery,” the letter read.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the Black maternal mortality rate in 2021 was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, which is 2.6 times higher than the White maternal mortality rate of 26.6 deaths.

The Cedars-Sinai website reports that “nearly 7,000 women have their babies at Cedars-Sinai each year — more than any other Los Angeles hospital,” per the Obstetrics and Gynecology page.

The Cedars-Sinai spokesperson told LA Times that the medical center is working towards addressing racial disparities in Black maternal care by granting $2.2 million to nonprofits in Los Angeles County to research the issue, conducting research to identify racial disparities and training their staff yearly on unconscious bias.

The hospital is also working with Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies, “to connect healthcare organizations and Black community leaders to develop solutions to reduce inequities in Black maternal and infant health,” per LA Times.

In addition, Cedars-Sinai has partnered with the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative “to develop and implement ‘standardized treatment protocols for the most common causes of maternal morbidity and mortality,’” a Cedars-Sinai spokesperson told ABC News.

Johnson told the outlet on Wednesday that the federal civil rights investigation has been an "extremely long time coming."

"I am extremely proud that HHS is going forward with this [investigation]; that they are taking it seriously and this has been I think an extremely long time coming," Johnson said, reports ABC News.

"This investigation is a very important step toward accountability, transparency and ultimately, an important step in making sure that families from all walks of lives receive the safe, dignified, respectful care that they deserve not only in material health but healthcare as a whole,” he continued.

“Kira’s legacy will be that this is no longer allowed to happen any place,” Johnson said at a press conference, reports NBC News.