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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DISTRIBUTES NEW TOOL FOR HOSPITALS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department is sending out "pictograms" to hospitals in more than 80 cities across the country to help medical personnel interact with patients who are deaf or hard of hearing, said Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Bill Lann Lee.

The notebooks of pictograms, entitled, "Sign Language Pictograms for Hospital Communication," illustrate phrases using sign language with captions written in English below the pictogram. Hospital staff can look up a phrase in English and point to the phrase in the notebook, then show the pictogram to the deaf person in order to communicate.

"It's so important that everyone -- including people who are deaf or hard of hearing -- is able to communicate fully and effectively in a hospital setting," said Mr. Lee, who announced the initiative at an event celebrating the 10^th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford. "This is only one example of the many ways the ADA has changed the lives of persons with disabilities in this country." The pictograms stem from a suit filed by the Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy alleging that certain Connecticut hospitals violated the ADA. The suit alleged that the hospitals failed to effectively communicate with patients who are deaf or hard of hearing, as required by the federal law. The United States, represented by the Office of the United States Attorney for Connecticut and the Civil Rights Division, intervened after the suit was filed.

Under a 1998 agreement resolving the earlier suit, 32 acute care hospitals throughout Connecticut agreed to set up a state-wide sign language interpreter system and to take other measures to improve communications with patients and their families. Part of the agreement also required the development of the pictograms, which will be used by the 32 hospitals in Connecticut.

To ensure that other hospitals will benefit from this new tool, the Justice Department produced 1,000 sets of the pictograms and is sending them to hospital associations as well as hospitals in other cities across the country.

The 1998 agreement was reached under the ADA, which requires all public accommodations, including hospitals, to provide auxiliary aids, including sign language interpreters and other communication aids, to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.

"This Connecticut agreement is a model for hospitals to follow in ensuring effective communication," added Mr. Lee. "We urge other hospitals to implement similar procedures to provide around the clock, on-call sign language interpreters and other aids to communicate effectively with all patients. No one's health care should be compromised because they are deaf or hard of hearing."

Enacted on July 26, 1990, the ADA is a landmark civil rights law that guarantees equal opportunity for the nation's 54 million people with disabilities. Disability rights organizations, businesses and governments have been conducting a wide range of commemorative events at both the national and local level to celebrate the 10^th anniversary.