3 deaf patients from Snohomish County sue Providence over indignities
EVERETT — Providence faces a class-action lawsuit over claims the hospital system fails to effectively communicate with patients who use sign language.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, alleges the largest health care provider in Washington violated the American with Disabilities Act and other federal laws in its failure to properly train staff, provide qualified interpreters or implement helpful policies to aid three Snohomish County patients who are deaf.
“As a result, doctors and other staff treat d/Deaf patients differently than other patients,” the lawsuit reads. “For example, they often do not look d/Deaf patients in the eyes, direct their visual attention to interpreters rather than to patients who are d/Deaf, and do not know how to properly locate and use auxiliary aids and services.”
(Deaf with a capital D signifies a specific group of people who share a culture and language, American Sign Language, whereas the lowercase word indicates a person with hearing loss, according to the National Association of the Deaf.)
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/3-deaf-patients-from-snohomish-county-sue-providence-over-indignities/
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