Fort Smith Service Animals for Persons with Disabilities Policy
Table of Contents
- Purpose: To ensure that staff, patients, visitors, and others who use a Service Animal while visiting, working, or being treated at St Edward Mercy Medical Center (Mercy) are permitted to bring and be accompanied by their Service Animal while on Mercy premises without discrimination as detailed in the policy below.
- Policy: Mercy recognizes the need for certain persons to be accompanied by a Service Animal and will accommodate the use of appropriately restrained Service Animals on Mercy premises (see III.B.2.a. below regarding appropriate restraints). To ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504), Mercy will not exclude Service Animals, such as guide dogs and hearing dogs, from Mercy hospital premises, except in limited circumstances where the Service Animal is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control the Service Animal or where the Service Animal presents a direct threat to the health or safety of others. A direct threat is defined as a significant risk to the health and safety of others that cannot be eliminated or mitigated by a modification of policies, practices or procedures. In determining whether a Service Animal poses a direct threat, the Health System shall make an individualized assessment, based on the reasonable judgment of competent medical personnel and current medical knowledge.
- Specific Information:
- Confirming status of the animal as a Service Animal
- Service Animals are distinct from pets and from pets used for pet therapy. A Service Animal is any dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. The work or tasks performed by a Service Animal must be directly related to the handler´s disability. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to:
- assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks;
- alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing non-violent protection or rescue work;
- pulling a wheelchair;
- assisting an individual during a seizure;
- alerting individuals to the presence of allergens;
- retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone;
- providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities;
- helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors.
Other species of animals that are not Service Animals for the purposes of this definition or as defined by the ADA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act will be allowed entry only after review by the Hospital 504 Coordinator, the Vice President of Mission. There is no legal requirement that a Service Animal be certified or wear special equipment or tags or ID cards. Although some handlers of Service Animals may provide certification proof of training or licensure as a Service Animal, and/or the animal may have ID Cards, equipment, and/or tags, Mercy does not require this.
There is no legal requirement that proof of vaccinations or certificates of health be provided and therefore, they are not required by Mercy.
If a Service Animal is observed on Mercy Hospital premises, staff will not question the validity of the Service Animal’s presence unless there is a question or doubt about whether the animal is needed for functional support of his or her handler or observation of the behavior of the animal is not sufficient to determine the type of tasks that the animal is trained to perform for his or her handler. Examples of instances in which it should be readily apparent that the animal is trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability are: the dog is observed guiding an individual who is blind or has low vision, pulling a person's wheelchair, or providing assistance with stability or balance to an individual with an observable mobility disability. If uncertain, ask the handler if the animal is a Service Animal. If still uncertain, you may also ask the handler to tell you what tasks the animal performs and how it performs those tasks. If the handler cannot describe tasks that the animal is trained to perform for the benefit of the handler, the animal is subject to Mercy policy pertaining to pets. Never ask the handler about the nature of his or her disability.
- Service Animals are distinct from pets and from pets used for pet therapy. A Service Animal is any dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability. The work or tasks performed by a Service Animal must be directly related to the handler´s disability. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to:
- Service Animals in Inpatient and Outpatient Areas
- When a person using a Service Animal is in the hospital, requests to allow the Service Animal to remain are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, considering any potential health, infection control, and safety issues. Under Section 504 and the ADA, people with disabilities who use Service Animals may not be isolated from other people or treated less favorably than other individuals in Mercy.
- Service Animals may accompany patients or their companions, as appropriate, for visits in Mercy, given the following guidelines:
- The Service Animal is appropriately restrained unless the handler, because of disability, is unable to use a harness, leash, or other tether or the use of such devices would interfere with the Service Animal’s ability to perform tasks safely and effectively, in which case the Service Animal is otherwise under the handler’s control (e.g., voice control, signals, or other effective means);
- Persons who use Service Animals are entitled to be accompanied by their Service Animals during the course of visits to Mercy regardless of whether the animals are working or performing services at all times, and regardless of whether healthcare staff could perform essentially the same services performed by the Service Animal, such as retrieving items or guiding the handler to a destination;
- The animal is not allowed to remain with the patient during invasive or surgical procedures. If a Service Animal cannot remain with the patient, the patient must make arrangements for the removal and care of the animal. If the patient is separated from the Service Animal, a staff member should remain with the patient at all times and under all circumstances while he or she is separated from the Service Animal, unless a friend or relative accompanies the patient and the patient does not need a staff member to assist him or her.
- Mercy may ask an individual with a disability to remove a Service Animal from the premises if the animal is not housebroken.
- All Service Animals must be well groomed and free of ectoparasites (fleas, ticks, mange, etc.). Any Service Animal presenting with signs of vomiting or diarrhea, incontinence, open wounds, skin infections or “hot spots” will be considered a risk to the health and safety of others and must be removed from the facility.
- Mercy co-workers must follow universal precautions after handling or touching Service Animals.
- The Service Animal is not allowed to come in contact with the patient's non-intact skin (surgical site, drainage tube, wounds, etc.).
- Mercy personnel and staff must comply with the ADA and Section 504 while maintaining measures to control infections. Service animals are not allowed in ICUs, Operating Rooms (ORs), isolation precaution rooms, or any area where visitors are prohibited or required to wear sterile gowns, gloves, or masks prior to entry. Service animals that are well groomed and free of ectoparasites are permitted in all areas that a human visitor is allowed to go without having to use special infection control precautions (e.g., donning protective garments, such as gloves, gowns, or masks, or using protective equipment).
- If a patient has a Service Animal and must remain hospitalized for longer than 24 hours, the patient or family member is responsible for arranging for a designated handler to feed and exercise the animal. The patient takes full responsibility for the needs and behavior of the Service Animal. Mercy staff and personnel are not required to supervise or care for Service Animals. The patient needs to make his or her own arrangements to have someone feed, water and air the animal throughout the hospital stay.
- If the Service Animal urinates or defecates inside the hospital, the handler or his or her companion must clean using the blood spill kit or disinfectants/equipment provided by the unit/department.
- If a blood spill kit is not available, the handler or his or her companion must use gloves, paper towels to remove the material, the hospital-provided disinfectant to clean the area, a red bag to deposit the material, and wash hands after removing gloves.
- Mercy co-workers should aid patients with known or possible allergies to a service animal, using physical separation when possible. Co-workers who are allergic to specific Service Animals are temporarily reassigned to prevent exposure.
- Room Cleaning: Staff must thoroughly clean the area after the patient visit. Use disinfectant to wipe down all horizontal surfaces.
- If the Medical Center properly excludes a service animal under this Policy, it shall give the individual with a disability the opportunity to obtain goods, services, and accommodations without having the Service Animal on the premises.
- Direct complaints, concerns or questions about the unjustified exclusion of Service Animals from Mercy or parts of Mercy to the 504 Coordinator, the Vice President of Mission, as appropriate. Mercy considers interference with or denial of this right to be a serious violation of Mercy policy and will investigate all complaints raising this issue.
- Confirming status of the animal as a Service Animal
