We serve with empathy, abide by all state and federal laws
Executive Orders issued by the new White House Administration led to the Department of Homeland Security lifting restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers. The new DHS policies allow enforcement actions, such as arrests, to take place in previously protected areas, including hospitals, schools and churches.
At Intermountain Health, we remain dedicated to our mission and to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all patients, members, clinicians and caregivers. We follow federal and state laws in all our facilities, and we want to ensure everyone who works at Intermountain knows where to go for resources specific to the topic.
We serve with empathy and we abide by all state and federal laws.
Intermountain Health facilities are places of healing and compassion. We value the trust that our patients and caregivers put in us, and their safety and well-being are our priority. In complying with federal laws and guidelines:
Intermountain does not request information regarding the immigration status of our patients.
Intermountain does not deny treatment based on immigration status if information is voluntarily shared by a patient.
Intermountain does not preemptively notify law enforcement when we become aware of the documentation status of an immigrant.
If you become aware of an ICE or Customs and Border Protection presence at your facility, please escalate awareness through your typical chain of command and promptly notify your facility’s Security director.
Steps to take if ICE/CBP officers arrive at your facility
A few additional tips for interactions with ICE or CBP officers:
Request to see official identification. Ask the officer to await verification from Compliance in a public area within the facility. Politely decline to answer any questions.
In partnership with your facility’s security director or officer, request to see a copy of the search warrant, arrest warrant or court order. Scan any documents provided to LegalRiskConsult@imail.org, using “URGENT” in the subject line. Provide your contact information and, if you have the information, include the patient’s location, diagnosis and/or main medical concern being addressed within your facility.
During regular business hours: Wait for confirmation whether or not the warrant or court order is valid.
Outside regular business hours: Escalate to your care site’s administrator on call or Security director.
If the request is about a caregiver, see the resource below related to “Responding to Immigration Law Enforcement Activity Directed at Caregivers and Non-Patients.”
If a situation escalates, please enlist your chain of command and follow standard safety procedures for your facility.
Additional resources on the topic
Below are resources available to clinicians and caregivers for awareness on how to respond to requests for patient or caregiver information from law enforcement.
Honoring our values We serve with empathy and We are better together, we ask that you continue to provide excellent, compassionate care to all Intermountain Health patients and collaborative, mutually respectful teamwork with fellow clinicians and caregivers.