DOJ and U.S. Health and Human Services settle claims that MultiCare Health System violated Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Press Release

Health system failed to provide interpreter service to patients who are deaf and deaf-blind

Seattle - MultiCare Health Systems of Washington will change procedures and set aside more than $2 million to compensate patients whose civil rights were violated by a failure to provide appropriate interpreter services, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. An investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office and U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) revealed that two patients, who are deaf-blind, failed to receive appropriate interpreter services both before and after surgery. The two patients will each receive $100,000. The family members of each patient who were forced to become interpreters in these stressful situations are each being compensated with $40,000.

"This settlement with MultiCare not only compensates those whose rights were violated, it also ensures better care in the future for patients who are deaf and deaf-blind," said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. "MultiCare is designating a point person who will be responsible for providing appropriate assistive devices and ensuring the health system has resources, including three interpreter firms, who can be called on to ensure effective communication with all patients."

Under the terms of the settlement, MultiCare will provide training to employees about assessing and meeting the communication needs of patients who are deaf or deaf-blind. The settlement calls for MultiCare to put information on its website and in its handbook about interpreter services for those who are deaf or deaf-blind. The detailed agreement will be in place for three years and requires reporting every four months to the U.S. Attorney's Office and HHS about requests for assistive devices or interpreters and how those needs were met.

This investigation began in 2020 when the U.S. Attorney's office received a complaint that a patient who is deaf-blind, failed to receive appropriate communication assistance at multiple appointments both before and after surgery. MultiCare had the patient's spouse who is deaf and visually impaired act as an interpreter - something she was not qualified or prepared to do. While that investigation was underway, a second deaf-blind patient reported that his rights were also violated when MultiCare failed to provide appropriate communication aids both before and after his surgery. That patient's son had to act as an interpreter, something he too was not trained to do.

While not admitting fault, MultiCare acknowledges that there may be additional patients whose rights under the ADA were violated. MultiCare will establish a fund of $2 million and will seek to identify any patients who failed to receive appropriate interpreter services. Under the terms of the settlement, MultiCare will establish a third-party claims administrator to allocate the settlement funds based on the harm suffered by each complainant. The administrator will work with MultiCare records to locate claimants. The U.S. Attorney's Office will review the allocations after the claims have been submitted and reviewed.

In addition to the settlements to claimants, MultiCare will pay $95,000 to the U.S. Attorney's office.

This is the 8^th settlement in the last eight years regarding failure to provide appropriate interpreter services in the health care setting. The U.S. Attorney's Office investigated and resolved complaints against PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington, University of Washington Medical Center - Northwest (UWMC-NW) in Seattle, and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington (KFHPW) among others.

The matter was investigated, and the settlement was negotiated, by Assistant United States Attorneys Susan Kas and Matt Waldrop. AUSA Kas serves as the Civil Rights Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington.

You can learn more about our Civil Rights work here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/civil-rights

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Updated November 22, 2024