Responses within nonfederal hospitals in Pennsylvania to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

This study described responses within nonfederal hospitals in Pennsylvania to the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

The target population consisted of all 277 nonfederal hospitals licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Department of Public Welfare.

Questionnaires were mailed to the 270 chief administrators for the 277 hospitals.

One hundred seventeen questionnaires (43.3%) were returned. More facilities had trained their managers regarding the ADA versus their nonmanagerial employees. Overall, 80.3% of the hospitals had an ADA committee or coordinator. Fifty-four percent of the respondents reported that job accommodations cost less than $500. Approximately 45% of the participants cited that the percentage of new construction costs spent to increase accessibility in their hospitals was less than 4.9%. More complaints and legal matters were received by facilities regarding the employment provisions of the ADA rather than the accessibility provisions.

The results suggest that hospitals need to monitor ADA-related expenses, more employee training is needed to ensure the ADA's success, and more representation is needed on hospital committees by rehabilitation personnel and individuals with disabilities.