By Claire Heininger and Ted Sherman
The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
NEWARK, N.J. — Amid mounting outcry over hazing that evoked the Ku Klux Klan, a state agency yesterday said it was exploring further action against the University Hospital paramedics involved in the incident.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services — which certifies paramedics — left open the possibility the three fired by the Newark hospital could lose their certification, but is “still gathering information” on the “shocking yet unique situation,” spokeswoman Donna Leusner said.
The state Attorney General’s Office has also been contacted by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the state-run medical university that operates the hospital and its emergency medical services unit, Gov. Jon Corzine said yesterday.
“We’ll see whether there’s any other steps that need to be taken,” Corzine said last night. “It’s abhorrent by any standard.”
UMDNJ is also conducting its own investigation after photos surfaced last week showing the alleged hazing of two Northeastern University students on a clinical rotation with EMS crews in Newark. In one of the images, two students are wearing white sheets resembling Klan robes while a University Hospital paramedic is shown adjusting the sheets. None of those involved was a person of color.
University officials yesterday would not say whether they have asked the attorney general’s office for assistance in the investigation. Meanwhile, officials at University Hospital’s Emergency Medical Services said the incident has thus far not sparked any confrontations within the community, and they have been responding to 911 calls as usual. Supervisors began riding with ambulance crews Saturday.
There was also growing dismay yesterday among leaders in the black community and the state Legislature. The Rev. Reginald T. Jackson, longtime president of the state’s Black Ministers Council and a leading figure in New Jersey’s black community, said he is scheduling a meeting with hospital officials this week to address whether the problem runs deeper.
“I’m concerned because I’m not sure that this is something that just happened one time,” Jackson said. “There’s got to be some follow-up. The university’s got to do some in-house work to see if it’s pervasive.”
Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver (D-Essex), chairwoman of the Assembly Human Services Committee, and Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said a legislative solution should also be weighed.
“I think the state is going to have to step up to the plate,” Oliver said. “People are just in shock.”
Copyright 2008, The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)