Hospitals To Improve Care For People With Disabilities

Two of the nation’s top hospitals will be friendlier places to people with disabilities thanks to a new agreement.

Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital — both Boston-area facilities affiliated with Harvard University — will spend millions to improve accessibility and train employees to better serve people with disabilities. The hospitals will purchase new equipment such as scales to weigh people in wheelchairs and specialized exam tables and X-ray machines.

In the past, lawsuits were filed in several other cities to bring similar improvements. But in Boston, advocates and hospital administrators worked together to come to an agreement to address hurdles patients experienced to receive care. One patient who uses a wheelchair described being questioned by staff repeatedly at a medical appointment about whether she really could walk. In another case, a patient could not get a room with an accessible toilet.

These hospitals were targeted because they are leaders in the field. Advocates hope that other facilities will follow suit, reports The Boston Globe. To read more click here.