First on FOX: ProTrump’s legal nonprofit has filed an official complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) seeking to investigate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in the prominent Midwest hospital system, following the FOX News digital report on criticism of these policies.
A complaint filed by the First Legal American (AFL) with the HHS Civil Rights Office accuses Henry Ford Health (HFH) of institutionalizing and institutionalizing racially-based discrimination under the banner of diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”).
The complaint came after a major consumer information-focused nonprofit organization launched an advertising campaign that advertised hospital DEI policies and transgender treatment for children “politics against patients,” Digital reported exclusively.
The AFL accuses HFH of using federal dollars to promote DEI initiatives, including racial allocation of employment practices, prioritizing race-based organ transplants, pay raises for “identity-limited” students, and awarding race- and gender-based supplier contracts.
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First Legal has filed an official complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services seeking an investigation into DEI practices at Henry Ford Health. (Getty Images/Istock)
“Not acting in the face of such a grossly proven violation will not only demonstrate tolerance against illegal discrimination, but will undermine the federal government’s obligation to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to promote unconstitutional or ideologically driven practices,” the AFL wrote in its complaint.
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The complaint accuses HFH of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, origin, or national origin, and denies section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits such discrimination within the healthcare industry.
The AFL also claims that HFH is violating President Donald Trump’s executive order signed this year.
“Since 2021, HFH has received approximately $1 billion in federal mandatory awards that include DEI-related provisions that embed race- and gender-based priorities in clinical, research and management functions. These awards show that HFH operates a program that actively integrates DEIs into internal governance, recruitment, clinical decision-making, and AFL clinical decision-making.
The complaint described HFH’s “discriminatory programs and practices” as “a surprising, continuous and systematic violation of non-discrimination obligations” and “an illegal misuse of federal taxpayer funds.”
In addition to formal investigation into alleged violations of HFH, the AFL calls for a compliance review of all HHS-funded programs, as well as a suspension of all race and gender-based policies and practices.
Henry Ford Health is being targeted by an ad campaign that accused him of promoting the “awakening” agenda. (Getty Images)
The AFL said Midwest Hospital had committed “a drastic, intentional, continuing pattern of discriminatory practices by major healthcare providers with significant federal support.”
The complaints have been addressed to key Trump Cabinet ministers, including HHS Executive Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Attorney General Pam Bondy, Homeland Security’s Department of Christa Noem’s Office and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
He is also director of Andrea R. Lucas, chairman of the Civil Rights Director, et al., Employment Opportunity Committee of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Carlton M. Hadden, executive director, et al., of the U.S. Department of Employment Opportunity Committee, and is responsible for senior director of the Department of Riley M. Burns.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, on the left, will be speaking at a press conference at the Department of Health and Human Services held in Washington, DC on April 22, 2025 (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“Henry Ford Health puts politics ahead of patients,” Will Hild, executive director of consumer research, told Fox News Digital this month during the launch of the advertising campaign. “Powered by gender ideology, Henry Ford continues to treat sexual changes that are deeply harmful and irreversible to children and must be stopped. Consumer research continues to explode these hospitals to put an agenda that is awakened to care for patients.”
Consumer research targeted Detroit Hospitals with a campaign called “Ford Health Exposed.” “Ford Health Exposed” highlighted “discriminatory practices,” including “management of harmful transgender treatments for children and prioritizing the underlying environmental agenda.”
The Henry Ford Health website is littered with examples of “awakening” ideologies, including Dei, being promoted.
“Diversity is always the foundation on which Henry Ford Health stands,” the organization’s website said.
The website also openly promotes the use of “unconscious bias training” and employee resource groups, and promotes a “diversity” agenda that says “enhancing the quality of care and comfort for each person we serve.”
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Slide from Professor Dei USF’s presentation. (Fox News Digital)
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The healthcare system also promotes what it describes on its website as “supplier diversity.” Here we prioritize cooperation with companies owned by LGBTQ+ people or certain minority categories at least 51%.
Kimberlydawn Wisdom, Community Health and Equity and Chief Wellness and Diversity Officer at Henry Ford Health, is a 2021 newsletter posted on the provider’s website, and says “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is simply not enough,” Kimberlydeon’s Wisdom.
A HHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the department “has not commented on any potential or aggressive investigations.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesman for Henry Ford Health said, “Henry Ford Health fully respects and fully complies with all state and federal anti-discrimination laws.”
“For over a century, Henry Ford Health has been fully committed to serving Michigan’s rich and diverse communities and providing healthcare services and employment opportunities for all. Our commitment to non-discrimination remains immovable,” the spokesman continued.
Andrew Mark Miller is a Fox News reporter. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email him with tips to Andrewmark.miller@fox.com.
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