Close up image of a caretaker helping older woman walk

A healthcare company is facing backlash this week over a help wanted ad in a New York newspaper that requested “no Haitians” apply for the nursing position.

Interim Healthcare Inc., which provides hospice, home healthcare and healthcare staffing services across the United States, ran an ad seeking a female licensed practical nurse or registered nurse in the Rockland County Pennysaver. The ad listed “no Haitians” among other job requirements, including that the nurse have New York certification and be “laid back.”

Sen. David Carlucci (D-NY), who represents Rockland County, tweeted a photo of the ad on Sunday, and called on the New York State Department of Labor and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission to investigate. The Haitian American Nurses Association of Greater New York responded to the ad on their Facebook page, saying Interim displayed “blatant discrimination and racism.”

The ad was placed by an Interim franchisee in Nanuet, NY, Interim President and CEO Kathleen Gilmartin wrote in a statement released Monday. The company will be conducting a review of the incident.

“IHC has been an equal opportunity employer in hiring all levels of caregivers to care for patients across the country,” Gilmartin wrote. “Our deepest apology goes to the Haitian community and especially Haitian nurses.”