Johnson City, Tenn.-based Mountain States Health Alliance has reached a settlement agreement with the federal government, resolving allegations that the health system did not provide adequate communication to individuals with disabilities that visited or were admitted to facilities owned by MSHA, according to the Department of Justice.
According to the DOJ, Christopher and Donna Cantrell, both of whom are deaf, filed a complaint against MSHA in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville. The complaint alleged they were denied effective communication under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act while their daughter was a patient at Johnson City (Tenn.) Medical Center, an MSHA facility.
According to the lawsuit, the couple claimed they were not given an interpreter or other auxiliary aid until just before their daughter died of lymphoma at the facility. As a result of the complaint, the U.S. Attorney's Office opened a civil investigation into the health system.
As part of the settlement agreement, MSHA will implement measures to protect the rights of patients and their families who are deaf or hard of hearing. Those measures include:
- Appointing an ADA administrator at each facility
- Providing individuals with interpreters in a timely manner
- Notifying patients and families of their rights under the ADA
- Completing compliance reports to the U.S. Attorney's Office for monitoring
The settlement agreement will be in effect for three years. The DOJ also required the health system to pay a fine of $50,000, the largest civil penalty a hospital or health system has ever paid in a matter involving effective communication in hospital settings.