"Christian Group Blocked From Distributing Bibles In GA Hospital In Name Of DEI, Sources Say"

"Gideons International, the Christian organization known for distributing Bibles to hospitals across the country, is being blocked out by a large hospital system in rural Georgia because of new diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Gideons, which distributes its free Bibles to not only hospitals, but also various other locations like hotels, and jails, is now blocked from servicing the Phoebe Putney Health System, which serves hundreds of thousands of people in over 40 Georgia counties and is one of the state’s largest healthcare providers. Gideons hasn’t had its Bibles in the system’s hospitals for months after maintaining a working relationship for several years, according to sources who spoke with The Daily Wire...

A source familiar with intimate knowledge of the situation said that Gideons was first restricted during the response to the coronavirus pandemic from entering Phoebe. The organization wasn’t let back in after COVID restrictions were relaxed and they attempted to resume their work last year. At the time, the Gideons were told their work was 'a violation of the DEI policy and they would no longer be allowed' into the Phoebe facilities, according to the source.

The source said that the policy was 'clearly anti-Christian' and that citing DEI to restrict the Gideons made no sense because Christians were being excluded instead of included.

Neither Phoebe’s communications team nor its chief DEI officer responded to multiple requests for comments. Scott Steiner, the CEO of Phoebe, is aware of the exclusion of the Gideons from Phoebe facilities, as are several members of the board of the health system, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The source said that hospital policies started to take a leftward drift when Phoebe brought on Steiner as CEO back in 2019, which is evidenced by the fact that he has pushed DEI principles throughout the health system since taking the helm of Phoebe. Steiner is a member of the Georgia Diversity Council, which describes itself as the 'premier resource for diversity best practices and leadership development in the state of Georgia.'

In previous comments, Steiner has said that his staff managers are not diverse enough and that he would take the lead on changing that.

'We have an incredibly vibrant and diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve,' he said at the health system’s diversity council’s first meeting in January 2022. 'In some areas of our organization — like on our management team — that diversity has been less evident, and we are committed to looking at ways to making meaningful change.'"