NEW JERSEY — Hackensack Meridian Health has agreed to resolve allegations that a doctor's office violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, after a patient was stopped from bringing her service dog into an appointment.
The state's largest healthcare provider is now "taking steps to ensure that all of (their) employees are properly trained" to follow the federal civil rights law, a spokesperson said.
According to an agreement with the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office, employees at a West Long Branch doctor's office "had no knowledge" of Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH)'s service animal policy when the incident took place; the doctor's office is part of the HMH health network.
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger's office announced the resolution in August, saying that HMH agreed to "make reasonable modifications to its policies, practices, and procedures to permit the use of service animals by persons with disabilities."
This patient, who has a disability, had gone to Dr. Abigail Whetstone's office with her service animal in 2020, according to a copy of the agreement provided to Patch.
According to the settlement, certain staff members told the patient that her service dog was not allowed in the office and "improperly" asked if the animal had papers.
Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, it is against the law to bar service dogs "in all areas of the facility where the public is normally allowed to go," according to the ADA website. "For example, in a hospital it would usually be inappropriate to exclude a service animal from areas such as patient rooms, clinics, cafeterias, or examination rooms."
Furthermore, a person with a disability cannot be asked to remove their service animal from the premises unless the dog is not housebroken, or it is out of control and the handler " does not take effective action to control it."
Places of public accommodation also cannot require individuals using service animals to produce documents or tags to verify the designation as a service animal, Sellinger's office added.
According to the agreement, HMH will pay $500 in damages to the person who filed the original complaint, ensure that all employees working at the West Long Branch doctor's office have training on federal service animal regulations, and also give employees a hard copy of the health system's service animal policy.
"HMH is dedicated to providing all patients a welcoming and inclusive environment," the hospital network said in a statement. "HMH has long had an ADA-compliant Service Animal policy and is taking steps to ensure that all of our employees are properly trained. This is part of our commitment to keep getting better for the patients and communities we serve."
In 2018, another Hackensack Meridian Health patient reported being asked to remove a service animal from one of the health network's offices. As Patch reported at the time, a woman in the Ocean Medical Center emergency room was asked to take her service dog out of the hospital while the woman was being treated for a seizure.
