Message: 15
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 09:25:16 -0500
From: "John G. Reiss" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [cshcn-l] 
To: <[log in to unmask]>,


Edited from an article on

Www.civilrights.org 

 

 

Landmark Settlement for Patients With Disabilities Among First of  Its Kind
under ADA

 

By Tyler Lewis 

civilrights.org 

December 12, 2005

 

A recent settlement under Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires
Washington Hospital Center to make sweeping changes to its 

facilities to ensure that patients with disabilities receive access to
standard medical treatment. 

 

"This settlement really goes above what is required by the ADA and beyond,
in
many instances," said Rabbi Bruce E. Kahn, executive 

director of the Equal Rights Center (ERC), the nonprofit organization that
represented the plaintiffs. 

 

.

 

The patients' lawsuit centered on the inability of four Washington Hospital
Center patients to receive proper treatment because of inaccessible
facilities at the hospital. 

 



 

All of the patients had severe disabilities, including a quadriplegic and a
patient who suffered from a spinal cord injury. 

 

Plaintiffs said that in addition to the inadequate facilities, it was nearly
impossible for them to eat and take care of themselves. 

The settlement agreement requires ten percent of the hospital's rooms to be
wheelchair accessible. 

 

"We realized quickly that four people with very similar complaints meant
this
was a systemic problem," said Elaine Gardner, Disability 

Rights Program Director for Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
and Urban Affairs, who represented the plaintiffs. 

 

The Department of Justice has said that the settlement is the most
comprehensive ADA settlement ever on the issue of access to medical 

services. The DOJ was brought into the case after investigating a separate
complaint made by the ERC. 

 

Under the five-year agreement, Washington Hospital Center will also have to
remove access barriers throughout the hospital; review its policies with the
DOJ and the ERC; provide training for all staff on how to meet the needs of
patients with disabilities; and institute special procedures for patients
with spinal cord injuries. 

 



 

Jim Caldas, president of Washington Hospital Center, told the Washington
Business Journal that "This settlement is simply the right thing to do." 

 

The ADA, enacted in 1990, prohibits discrimination against Americans with
physical and mental disabilities in employment, public accommodations, and
transportation.  

 

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