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Top Five Asks for Hospitals and Healthcare Institutions
New York, NY, September 4, 2026 — Today, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) released Five Asks for Hospitals and Healthcare Institutions, calling on healthcare leaders to take concrete steps to prevent and address antisemitism and ensure Jewish patients, healthcare professionals, students and trainees can receive care, work and learn in environments free from discrimination and harassment.
The recommendations come as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter clarifying how federal civil rights laws protect against discrimination rooted in antisemitism in healthcare settings, medical education and clinical training.
“Healthcare institutions have a responsibility to ensure that Jewish patients can seek care and Jewish healthcare professionals and students can do their jobs and pursue their education without facing antisemitic discrimination or harassment,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director. “The federal government has made clear that antisemitic discrimination can implicate our nation’s civil rights laws. Now healthcare institutions should take concrete, proactive steps to make those protections meaningful in practice. ADL’s Five Asks provide a roadmap for doing exactly that.”
ADL is calling on hospitals and healthcare institutions to:
Explicitly name antisemitism, including anti-Zionist harassment, as prohibited conduct in nondiscrimination and patient and staff safety and conduct policies.
Build accessible, confidential reporting and grievance systems for patients, staff, students and trainees, and ensure complaints are investigated promptly and seriously by personnel trained to recognize contemporary manifestations of antisemitism.
Require training on antisemitism and Jewish identity for clinicians, staff and medical students, incorporating evidence-based education into onboarding and ongoing professional development.
Support Jewish inclusion structures, including Jewish employee resource groups and other meaningful opportunities for Jewish staff to raise identity-based concerns and communicate their needs to institutional leadership.
Adopt and consistently apply robust religious accommodation policies, to ensure Jewish staff can seek accommodations relating to scheduling on Shabbat and Jewish holidays, dress, and grooming requirements, and other aspects of religious observance where applicable.
“Protecting Jewish people in healthcare cannot begin and end with responding after an incident occurs,” Meredith Weisel, ADL Vice President of Advocacy, said. “Hospitals and healthcare institutions should build systems that recognize antisemitism, give people confidence that they can report it, educate those responsible for preventing it and create workplaces and care settings where Jewish identity is respected. These are practical steps institutions can take now.”
ADL urges hospitals, health systems, medical schools and other healthcare institutions across the country to review their policies and practices and implement these five recommendations.
ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913 to protect the Jewish people, ADL works to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment to all. In the face of rising antisemitism and extremism, we protect, advocate, and educate, through a mix of programs and services using the latest innovations and technology, and seek to create a world without hate.