Rose Medical Center in Denver has changed its procedures and added technology to better serve deaf patients as part of an agreement to settle a .
Rose and the worked together to address concerns raised by the lawsuit — notably that staff failed to provide interpreters and other effective aid for deaf patients during emergency visits — and reached a “mutually satisfactory” agreement, according to a joint statement .
has increased staff education, revised policies, purchased additional equipment and improved related technology to make it easier for patients who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate with people who are caring for them.
“Through this experience, we have thoroughly re-examined our policies and procedures and made improvements to ensure that we are doing all we can to accommodate anyone who visits our facility,” said Kenneth H. Feiler, Rose president and CEO, in a statement. “We are pleased to reach an agreement that is mutually satisfactory for all patients.”
Rose officials declined to provide further comments.
Plaintiffs Ronald Zapko and John Towery received an undisclosed monetary award, but most of the settlement terms were focused on changes at Rose, said Andrew Montoya, legal program attorney for the CCDC.
“The policies they had necessarily weren’t terrible,” he said. “There were some gaps and, unfortunately, our clients fell into those gaps. … I think they’ve taken very good steps to address the problems.”
Patients Zapko and his partner, Towery, filed a federal against Rose in October, alleging that during two ER visits in 2012 and 2013, they could not adequately describe their symptoms or discuss treatment with hospital staff.
The lawsuit claimed that Towery in 2012 placed a call to Rose via videophone to request an interpreter for he and Zapko, who was suffering from severe abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal issues.
Rose staff members instead tried to communicate with written notes. Neither Towery nor Zapko could communicate effectively in written English. The staff also tried a remote video interpreter machine that was too small and then later shut down because of technical difficulties, the lawsuit claimed.
A second visit to Rose in 2013 had a similar result, the complaint alleged.
Alicia Wallace: 303-954-1939, awallace@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aliciawallace
