Hospice Volunteer Refuses to Submit to Background Check

A man in Middlesex, Connecticut will most likely lose his position as a volunteer at a local hospice because he refuses to submit to a background check. Donald McGinnis has been volunteering at the hospice every Christmas for 18 years.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid have implemented a new law requiring background checks for all volunteers. The law does not make allowances or exceptions for those people who have been volunteering longer than others.

McGinnis believes that the law has "crossed the line" and he should not be checked because he has nothing to hide & was in the military for six years.

Because the hospice relies completely on funding from the government, it has no choice but to comply with the law. Maura McQueeney, executive director of home care for the hospice was quoted as saying, “Unfortunately, the federal government doesn’t look at our employees that way,” she said. “They look at our program and for 100 percent compliance. So we would love to be able to plead his case for them, it’s hard wired now. It’s a federal regulation, and there is some merit to it, that we’re seeing patients at their most vulnerable and they’re allowing us to care for them.”

In my opinion, it's sad that someone who has done so much good for so long won't look at the bigger picture and the long-term benefit of background checks. If McGinnis truly has nothing to hide than what's the worry? He may know that nothing will come back, but can he say the same for all of the volunteers he has worked with (or will work with)?