Two hospitals decide to upgrade disability accessibility
In an amazing agreement, two Boston hospitals have agreed to make it easier to gain access to the hospitals and would train workers that have been either indifferent or openly hostile to the disabled. They also agreed to remove physical barriers that made it impossible to get into some of the hospital wards or bathrooms that would trap someone with a wheelchair. Millions of dollars would also be spent to make MRI, CAT scan, as well as X-Ray machines adjustable enough so someone in a wheelchair could easily transfer to the device. All of these changes are being made to stop the ongoing lawsuits under the American’s for Disabilities Act which guarantees access to anything or anywhere that the able bodied can get to. Those companies (or hospitals in this case) that do not keep their areas easily availabloe to the disabled open themselves up to expensive lawsuits against the ADA and also violoations against the disabled person’s civil rights. (Source: Boston.com)
While this sounds wonderful, it remains to see how much work the hospitals will put in place. The article did not say whether disabled people would be added to groups verifying that all areas of the hospital do indeed follow ADA guidelines. But these two hospitals are showing that the ADA is doing great work throughout the country in forcing all public buildigs to be fully accessible and that personnel must be trained to help the disabled. This training is going to be the real deciding factor that decides if the hospitals are serious about helping the disabled. From the bus drivers to the nursing staff, everyone has to realize that the disabled are not an alien life form and need help for basic life functions that the able bodied just take for granted. Either forgetting to help or just all out refusing can put the disabled person in a dangrous position that could seriously injure them.
Ongoing training and verification that existing fixes are appropriate and that new areas of the hospital reach ADA guidelines will be an important aspect of this promise. The management of the hospitals can’t just look at this as a way to get away from lawsuits, they should want to help their fellow man because it is the right things to do. Opening the area to the disabled will bring more business to the hospitals because more people can access facilities there. Companies that complain about being forced to make accessiblity changes may be surprised at the amount of aditional traiffic now that the disabled can actually get in and move around.
With more and more people becomikng disabled, it will be important for these hospitakls to be accessible.l Baby boomers are getting older and many will eventually in walkers or wheelchairs and they will not be impressed if the hospital down the street cannot open the doors for them. This is something for all businesses to think about, not only are there customers you are losing, but eventually those owners and managers will be in those wheelchairs that they don’t care about. Then the shoe will be on the other foot.
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