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1993.01.11 :  HIV Discrimination

Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343
January 11, 1993

     HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today announced that
Westchester County Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., has agreed
to comply fully with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, the department's regulation implementing Section 504, and
all terms of a proposed Compliance Agreement.  
     Section 504 prohibits acts of discrimination against persons
with disabilities by hospitals and other entities receiving
federal financial assistance.  In September 1992, a three-judge
panel of the HHS Civil Rights Reviewing Authority upheld the
finding of an administrative law judge that the Medical Center
had discriminated against a pharmacist infected with HIV in
violation of Section 504.  The Medical Center first completely
refused to hire the pharmacist then later offered him a position
subject to discriminatory restrictions. 
     The Reviewing Authority had ordered the termination of the
Medical Center's federal financial assistance, which amounts to
over $100 million annually.  However, the Medical Center
subsequently expressed a willingness to take all steps necessary
to restore its eligibility to receive financial assistance.  
     Under the terms of the detailed Compliance Agreement, the    
  Medical Center will offer the pharmacist an unrestricted full-
time position as a hospital pharmacist with retroactive seniority
to Dec. 15, 1986.  It will provide him with back pay and a lump
sum payment for other employee benefits.  In addition, the
Medical Center agrees not to use the pharmacist's HIV status as a
factor in determining his eligibility for assignments, transfers,
or promotions or as a ground for restricting his duties as a
hospital pharmacist.  The Medical Center also acknowledges that
HIV infection alone does not present a significant risk of
transmission of HIV from a health care worker to patients or co-
workers.  For the next two years, the Medical Center will be
subject to compliance monitoring by HHS in a number of critical
areas.  Additionally, the Medical Center will adopt a statement
of non-discrimination in which it explicitly encourages persons
with AIDS and HIV infection to participate as fully as possible
in all of the Medical Center's programs and activities.
     Secretary Sullivan said, "I am pleased that the Medical
Center has expressed its willingness to voluntarily comply with
the law in the future and to remedy its past discrimination by
offering the pharmacist the position he was initially selected
for in 1986.  The Medical Center has adopted a statement of non-
discrimination and explicitly encourages persons with AIDS and
HIV infection to participate as fully as possible in all of the
Medical Center's programs and activities.  Health care workers
with AIDS and HIV infection should be assured that HHS will
diligently enforce Section 504 so that an individual's right to
work to the fullest extent of his or her capabilities, free from
discrimination, will be protected."
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