Image Credit: commonspirit.org
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
CommonSpirit Health, a national healthcare conglomerate with numerous clinics, providers, and facilities in Tennessee, promotes itself as an organization dedicated to “making the healing presence of God” known in their practices, yet with a whistleblower’s release of internal documents, it appears the conglomerate steeps itself in humanist ideals through social justice and healthcare equity.
Jack Pendergrass, a former CommonSpirit employee turned whistleblower, has released copies of internal documents including emails and corporate policies that not only reinforce the organization’s commitment to a “humanist future”, but express a commitment to pursing discriminatory DEI practices and “advancing social justice for all” throughout their “ministry’s” structure.
The first email is dated November 1, 2024, addressing the 2024 Presidential election. While nothing in the correspondence directly speaks to a specific candidate or platform, the CEO and the Chief Advocacy Officer urge employees to lean upon CommonSpirit’s “message of humankindness” should there be disagreements on political stances and offers reassurance that leadership was “prepared to adapt to policy changes” as the election would “undoubtedly impact health policy.”
Chief Advocacy Officer Shelly Schlenkner has been with CommonSpirit since 2020 and has spoken at several climate and sustainability conferences during her tenure in the role, including the 2023 UN Climate Conference, and has been outspoken in the push for hospitals to focus more on sustainability, believing “climate action is inextricably tied to health equity, because the people who are most impacted are the poor, and the vulnerable and people of color, and then it just came naturally out of our desire to advance healthcare overall.”
On November 6, 2024, the day after the election, a follow-up email was sent by CEO Wright Lassiter III asking the approximately 150,000 employees to, “keep our focus on what’s ahead,” as CommonSpirit has “much work to do across communities” which “reflect the diversity of America”. “We will continue working with elected officials at every level of government to advocate for social justice, access to health care, and building a more sustainable health care system for the future,” Lassiter wrote.
A third memo from Chief Operating Officer Terika Richardson in February of 2025 issued guidance and specific instructions on how to engage with ICE agents and reminders that employees are prohibited by CommonSpirit policies to release patient names or immigration statuses.
The letter reiterates the company is “committed to providing a safe and secure environment for the patients, visitors, clinicians, and staff within our facilities…It is our responsibility as caregivers to treat everyone in our hospitals and communities with dignity and humankindness, regardless of their immigration status.”
“Our procedure for engaging with law enforcement, including ICE, has not changed…Any law enforcement officer entering a CommonSpirit Health facility should be directed to a member of the security team. Security will follow existing procedures and notify the appropriate hospital leader,” the missive directs.
Richardson concludes, “Our purpose is to serve as a center for medical care and healing, including for those who are most vulnerable. As a health system rooted in the Catholic faith, we are focused on providing equitable access to health services because everyone deserves dignity and respect in times of vulnerability. Access to healthcare is a basic human right, and providing for the well-being of every patient enhances the health of our entire community.”
The contents of the letter clearly imply the company is aware illegal aliens are likely on their campuses as either employees or patients and could be interpreted to assume a willingness to subvert immigration enforcement efforts, which is illegal on both state and federal levels.
Whistleblower Pendergrass joined CommonSpirit as a sterile processing technician but left after approximately 10 months due to what he called poor management and “a host of other issues.”
When asked by The Tennessee Conservative why he decided to go public with his information he stated, “After reading the internal emails from Wright Lassiter III and Terika Richardson, I knew that CommonSpirit was aiding in what equated to human trafficking and using taxpayer funding to do so through various mechanisms such as NGOs and philanthropic organizations. While illegals are exactly that, illegal, no one deserves or asks to be trafficked.”
He also believes CommonSpirit’s mission was “designed to target specific ethnicities and increase funding from the federal government (perhaps through agencies like USAID) for their own agendas,” and that local and state governments could also be involved.
Born of a merger between Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health in 2019, CommonSpirit is a $29 billion system operating more than 700 care sites and 142 hospitals as well as research programs, virtual care services, home health programs, and living communities across 21 states.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
Yup, lucifer’s dimmercraps, faux Christians.