White mom says Maryland clinic refused to treat her Black daughter

A White mom is enraged and speaking out after a Maryland clinic refused to treat her adoptive, 12-year-old Black daughter for a suspected broken finger.

Karen Dresser, 51, says when she and her daughter, Amelia, showed up to the Patient First urgent care facility in Waldorf, Md., outside of Washington, employees told her she needed to produce paperwork to prove the girl was her daughter. When she could not, she was told to find them or seek treatment elsewhere, according to WJLA.

Dresser, a fourth-grade school teacher in White Plains, Md., adopted her daughter, Amelia, in 2007, but they have lived as a family since she was an infant, Yahoo! Lifestyle reported.

Patient First has treated Amelia on multiple occasions, Dresser told Yahoo!

“When we arrived, a receptionist asked if I were her guardian and I interpreted that as ‘parent’ so I said yes,” Dresser told Yahoo!.

“But it became clear that she didn’t believe me,” Dresser said, adding that she was told, “You should have brought guardianship documentation, which we need in order to treat your daughter.”

“At first I was just numb,” Dresser told WJLA. “I was in disbelief, actually.”

She said, “We are a family in every sense of the word … and for somebody just to make the assumption is hurtful.”

Ultimately, a Patient First staffer took a quick look at Amelia’s finger in the reception area and advised Dresser to buy a splint for her at a retail pharmacy.

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Patient First, which is based in Richmond, Va., sent a response to WJLA:

“During registration, if a minor patient is accompanied by an adult who states that they are the patient’s parent, we take them at their word,” the statement read. “If the adult states that they are the child’s guardian, we required (sic) documentation to confirm that before the patient can be registered.”

The Patient First corporate office has apologized to Dresser, WJLA reported.

Other White parents with Black children have responded to a Facebook post from Dresser saying they also have been denied medical care based on similar situations, Yahoo! reported.