This year, Alma Andrews, of Pasadena, spent 11 days in the Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie.
Every day, Andrews, who is deaf, asked for an interpreter, she said.
But instead of providing her with someone who can read American Sign Language, hospital officials used notes, gestures and Andrews? relatives to communicate with her for nine of the 11 days ? communication that Andrews alleges was ineffective and discriminatory.
On those grounds, Andrews filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Thursday, alleging that the hospital and its parent company, the University of Maryland Medical System Inc., discriminated against her by failing to provide her with an interpreter when she asked for one.
In the suit, Andrews does not take issue with the medical care she received at the hospital, where she underwent surgery for severe stomach pain. “This is a not a malpractice case,” said her Baltimore attorney, Beth Pepper. “This is a violation of her civil rights.” Andrews is also seeking to change the University of Maryland Medical System?s policy, making it so that any deaf person who asks for an American Sign Language interpreter is granted such a service. “The hospital?s failure to provide interpreter services is egregious,” Pepper said. “It deprived Ms. Andrews of the dignity and respect accorded other patients in the hospital, and created a humiliating and embarrassing situation for her.”
Pepper added that she believes her client has a strong case. “Without having an interpreter, you?re likely to be in violation of the law,” she said. “In a complex setting, where complicated information is being conveyed, having a qualified sign language interpreter is the only way to achieve effective communication in the medical setting.”
In a statement, officials of the Baltimore Washington Medical Center said they had not seen the suit, but they work to ensure the needs of deaf patients are met.
“Except in rare, exceptional circumstances, the law does not require that in-personinterpreters be provided daily to patients who are deaf,” said Allison Eatough, a hospital spokeswoman.
