Audio Fairview settles complaint from deaf patients (story audio) Photos Michael White Linda White Respond to this story Talk about this story in the MPR News Forum Submit a commentary Help us cover this story

	E-mail this page			Print this page

Fairview settles complaint from deaf patients
by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
December 8, 2004

Michael White said through an interpreter that Fairview failed to honor his request for two interpreters the day of his surgery. And an unqualified interpreter was used to discuss possible complications in the surgery. (MPR Photo/Tom Scheck)

Fairview Health Services has agreed to pay $208,000 to settle a complaint that it failed to adequately provide deaf patients with sign language interpreters. The U.S. attorney's office and the state of Minnesota began investigating Fairview after several hearing-impaired patients and their families complained.

St. Paul, Minn. — Imagine having to undergo a complex medical procedure but not understanding what the doctors were saying to you. Or that the person interpreting for you would shrug her shoulders when she couldn't explain a complex medical term. That's what happened to several patients and their families who received treatment at Fairview Hospitals.

Linda White said she was frustrated at the lack of sensitivity regarding her situation.

	Linda White

"I had to change from being a patient to being an advocate. To asserting myself to finding how we can get those services which put added pressure on me. It didn't feel good and caused me to be very emotional," she said.

White was in the hospital to donate a kidney to her husband, Michael, who is also deaf. Both say Fairview provided them with an unqualified interpreter during a meeting to discuss possible complications regarding the surgery.

Michael White said through an interpreter that Fairview also failed to honor the White's request for two interpreters the day of the surgery.

"I anticipated everything to go well because we had made preparations two months in advance. We had asked for two interpreters. It was clear that we required two interpreters and it was agreed upon. And to get there and find only one interpreter was a huge disappointment. And we also had sympathy for this poor interpreter who was trying to accommodate both of us and it just wasn't right," he said.

White says during follow-up meetings and treatment he was provided with an interpreter on a limited basis.

The Whites are one of three families that filed a complaint against Fairview. Other families had similar complaints about the quality of interpreting services.

When we go to the doctor you hear 'I'm going to give you this shot' or 'I'm going to do this or that.' A deaf person doesn't have that comforting experience. - Julie Oberley

Julie Oberley's husband, Robert, needed treatment at Fairview University Medical Center. According to her complaint, an interpreter made Oberley and his doctor wait on their conversation so the interpreter could breast-feed her baby.

The complaint also said the same interpreter's husband asked Julie Oberley for private medical information and inquired about her religion during an emergency follow-up procedure. Julie Oberley declined to speak about those problems but said deaf patients should receive the same quality of care as patients who can hear.

"When we go to the doctor you hear 'I'm going to give you this shot' or 'I'm going to do this or that.' A deaf person doesn't have that comforting experience," she said.

The U.S. attorney's office and Minnesota's Department of Human Rights began investigating the complaints and filed a notice with Fairview in March.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Brooker says Fairview officials immediately cooperated and agreed to the settlement this week. Brooker says Fairview agreed to pay a fine, promised to provide adequate interpreter services at its five hospitals and agreed to provide compliance reports to the state and federal government over the next three years.

Brooker says Fairview officials are also required to provide interpreters who meet a certain level of expertise.

"Each circumstance is going to be a little different and therefore it's up to the hospital to initially assess the needs of the deaf patient and to get that down on paper in the chart and then to be flexible and work with the deaf patient to make sure that that communication is being conveyed effectively at the right moment," Brooker said.

Brooker says the consent decree is the first of its kind in the nation.

Fairview officials issued a statement apologizing to the families. They also wrote that Farview is pleased to resolve the issue and voluntarily hired additional interpreters.

This is the second settlement regarding sign language interpreter services at Minnesota hospitals. Abbott Northwestern settled a complaint in March 2003 over that hospitals's services. Several groups say the two settlements will force other hospitals to improve their interpreter services as well.

News Headlines

Related Subjects