Hospitals and the ADA

Hospitals are required to comply with the ADA.  The current ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 (P.L.110-325) which became effective on January 1, 2009.

Section 12182. Prohibition of discrimination by public accommodations

   (a) General Rule

• No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.

Section 12182 applies to hospitals and everything within the hospital in the full and equal enjoyment. 

Last year, Congress passed the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (Obama Care).  That Act calls for the Access Board to issue standards for medical diagnostic equipment in two years to comply with the ADA. 

A little history: The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) is a Federal Government agency that has existed for about 50 years and is responsible for writing standard, or sometimes called guidelines, that became the "Safe Harbor" for Design and Construction to be compliance with the ADA. 

So what does all this really mean? 

Hospitals have to comply with the ADA today, and medical diagnostic equipments has to comply with today's ADA compliance.  For the Access Board to write these standards in two years will be a real challenge, as the Access Board is not use to moving at such a fast pace.  The "Obama Care" law requires these standards from the Access Board in consultation with the Food and Drug Administration. 

In the opinion of ACCESS, good luck with the standards.

In the real world these standards are just common sense.  The major manufacturers of medical diagnostic equipment are moving and have moved to get the equipment accessible and in compliance with the ADA.  Again, this is in the opinion of ACCESS.  I want to be perfectly clear here, just because there is no Access Board written standard for medical diagnostic equipment for ADA compliance does not mean the medical diagnostic equipment does not have to comply with the ADA.  Remember, the effective date was January 1, 2009.

Give us your questions or thoughts on the above article.  You can post them here or on our FaceBook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Access-Technologies-Services-Inc/268659564730.  You can also reach us at hfalstad@accessts.net or call us at (702) 649-7575.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Hank


The above are opinions of Hank Falstad, AIA, Managing Senior Associate of Access Technologies Services, Inc. (ACCESS).  See our web site for additional information:  www.accessts.net.