The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada secured an agreement with Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, LLC, to ensure that patients and their companions who are deaf have needed auxiliary aids and services, including qualified in-person or video remote interpreting services. The new internal policies will be enforced in all 190 affiliated healthcare facilities across the United States.
The agreement settled a complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by a deaf father who was denied an American Sign Language interpreter when he brought his eight-year-old daughter to the Sunrise Hospital emergency room. He had to use an unreliable means of communication when communicating with the emergency room staff. He did not understand the extent of his daughter’s condition, the medication being given, important details about the discharge process, or her treatment plan.
To learn more, read the Department of Justice press release.