I couldn’t see my dying partner: A Miami hospital reacts slowly to recognizing lesbians as a couple during traumatic ordeal

A few months ago, a Washington state family with two moms was living a great life.

But after nearly 18 years together, one was stricken with a brain aneurysm and died. The family says the way they were treated by a Miami hospital compounded their shock and grief.

From Olympian: “Even after a friend in Olympia faxed the legal documents that showed that Pond had authorized Langbehn to make medical decisions for her, Langbehn said she wasn’t invited to be with her partner or told anything about her condition. She said she wasn’t allowed to see Pond again until a priest arrived to give . . . Last Rites.”

Langbehn told The Miami Herald the social worker’s name — Garnett Frederick.

Frederick, 54, ”strongly denies making the comments,” says the hospital’s VP of public relations, Robert Alonso. Alonso says Pond was at Ryder Trauma Center, where doctors delivered ”immediate emergency clinical interventions”. That accounts for any delay in Langbehn seeing Pond, Alonso says. “We have a very liberal visitation policy. As soon as it’s humanly possible and appropriate to bring in visitors, we do.”

We contacted the hospital and received a response within minutes .

Jan runs a great website dedicated to her family, which of course still includes Lisa.

She blogged for Family Pride recently and shared her heartbreaking story.