Two men who are deaf have sued Rose Medical Center, claiming the hospital
failed to provide them with a method of effective communication during emergency visits, as required under federal law.
The patient, Ronald Zapko, and his partner, John Towery, claim in a federal suit filed Thursday they couldn’t adequately describe symptoms and couldn’t discuss treatment, the prognosis or discharge instructions during emergency visits in 2012 and 2013.
Rose issued a statement to The Denver Post saying, “Our priority is to provide exceptional care and service to all of our patients, including our deaf and hard-of-hearing patients and their companions.”
The hospital said it is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act but did not comment on the specifics of the complaint.
Zapko and Towery are asking for damages and a change in Rose’s policy — to provide qualified sign-language interpreters or other appropriate and effective aids and services for the deaf or hearing impaired.
“We believe it’s a fairly common problem,” said Andrew Montoya, attorney with the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition Legal Program, which filed the suit on behalf of the men.
“We’re also embarking on a research project with the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center to determine how common it is,” Montoya said.
The lawsuit alleges that Towery, a deaf man, called Rose via videophone to request an American Sign Language interpreter be provided about an hour before his partner, Zapko, also deaf, arrived at the hospital for treatment for severe abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal issues in November 2012.
Rose staff began triage of Zapko via written notes, according to the lawsuit. Neither Towery nor Zapko communicate effectively in written English, the complaint says. Rose eventually directed the men to a video remote interpreter machine, or VRI, which the suit says was not large enough to adequately display the interpreter’s face, arms, hands and fingers. And, they allege, the image was not sharp and frequently froze or jumped before the machine ultimately disconnected the interpreter.
In addition to defective equipment, the suit alleges, Rose didn’t properly train staff to use a VRI.
A second visit in February 2013 unfolded in similar fashion, the complaint says, although a nurse allegedly had informed Towery, when he called requesting that an interpreter actually be present, that one would be.
When Towery and Zapko arrived about an hour later, they said, there was no live interpreter and they were told the VRI machine was in use by another patient.
“The physician with whom Messrs. Zapko and Towery met requested that they communicate by lip reading,” the complaint states, but the two are unable to do so.
The men said they had provided the name of an interpreter agency that typically could provide services on short notice, but were told by Rose staff the agency was unable to fulfill their request. Agency staff later told Towery that Rose had not contacted them, the lawsuit alleges.
Montoya told The Denver Post he had been in discussions with Rose representatives for the better part of a year, and it seemed unlikely to him a settlement could be reached.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276, edraper@denverpost.com or twitter.com/electadraper