202-PL-00052

MAY 20 1993
Mark Berg, M.D.
Medical Director
NorthWorks Program
North Memorial Medical Center
3300 North Oakdale
Robbinsdale, Minnesota 55422

Dear Dr. Berg:

I am responding to your letter asking for clarification of
the requirements of title III of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) , 42 U. S. C. ​12101 et seq. , and this Department 's
regulation implementing title III, 28 C.F.R. pt. 36. You have
asked whether the ADA requires the North Memorial Medical Center
to make its mobile health care screening vans accessible to
people with disabilities, and, if it does not, what alternative
arrangements to provide equivalent services for people with
disabilities would be acceptable.

The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide

technical assistance to individuals and entities that have rights
or responsibilities under the Act. This letter provides informal
guidance to assist you in understanding the ADA and the
Department's regulation. However, this technical assistance does
not constitute a determination by the Department of Justice of
your rights or responsibilities under the ADA, and it is not
binding on the Department.

A medical center is a place of public accommodation subject

to title III of the ADA. As such, it is required to make its
services accessible to people with disabilities in accordance
with the full range of title III requirements, such as
nondiscriminatory eligibility criteria; reasonable modifications
in policies, practices, and procedures; provision of auxiliary
aids; and removal of barriers in existing facilities. In
addition, it is required to comply with the new construction and
alteration requirements for buildings and facilities established
by this Department's regulation implementing title III.

cc: Records, Chrono, Wodatch, Bowen, Blizard, FOIA, Library

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Although mobile health care screening vans are "facilities"

subject to title III, the Department's current regulation does
not establish standards for the design and construction of such
facilities. Therefore, the medical center is not currently
required to purchase health care screening vans that meet
specific design criteria. The medical center, however, is
required to remove architectural, communication, and
transportation barriers in its vans to the extent that it is
readily achievable to do so.

If it is not readily achievable to make the health screening

vans accessible, then you must consider any alternative method of
providing access to the health screening van's services that is
readily achievable. Such services should be made available to
individuals with disabilities at the same cost as the services
provided at the van site.

While we cannot tell you which alternative methods of

providing access would be readily achievable for you, options
that you may wish to consider include:

providing comparable services at an accessible site at your

medical facility, "bundled" in a way that would enable an
individual with a disability to obtain the same range of
services with a comparable degree of convenience as the
services that are provided by the van;

using the mobile health screening van to deliver the

services to persons with disabilities in their own homes; or

transporting people with disabilities from their homes or

the van site to an accessible facility where they can
receive the services that are being provided by the van.

For your information, I am enclosing a copy of the

regulation implementing title III of the ADA and the Department's
Title III Technical Assistance Manual, which was developed to
assist individuals and entities subject to the ADA to understand
the requirements of title III. I hope that this information is
helpful to you.
 Sincerely,

John L. Wodatch
Chief
Public Access Section

Enclosures
------------------------------------------------------------------------

NorthWorks

March 17, 1992

Office of ADA
Civil Rights Department
US Department of Justice
P.O. Box 66118
Washington DC 20035-6118

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I am writing to request specific information regarding any

recommendations you may have to assure our compliance with the
ADA. I am writing as a representative of North Memorial Medical
Center, a community hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We are
currently reviewing the possibility of purchasing a mobile van.
The purpose of this van would be two-fold. One, to provide low
cost or free public health or screening types of services to the
community. Services which may be included would be health
history questionnaires, cholesterol screening, diabetes
screening, pulmonary function testing, hearing screening and
maternal child care information. We are currently questions
whether or not this van would need to be accessible to those in
wheelchairs or with significant ambulatory disabilities.
Obviously the majority of the commercial vans available do not
meet this need.

You should understand that we would have available similar

services at the Medical Center. Obviously the exact character of
the service might differ somewhat and would not be a neatly
"bundled" as it would be on the health care screening van.

I would appreciate you response to the following specific

questions.

1. Does ADA require that we make the health care screening van
accessible to wheelchairs, walkers, or patients with
significant disabilities?

2. Is it acceptable to offer similar services at an off site

location, i.e. at the Medical Center? How similar do these
services need to be and their availability, convenience, and
cost?

Central Offices located at North Memorial Medical Center

(612) 520-5551 3300 North Oakdale Robbinsdale, MN 55422
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Would the Medical Center be responsible for transferring the

potential consumer to the Medical Center? We currently
would not envision making transportation available to some
off site location where the van would be located. However,
the van might be more conveniently located relative to the
patient's primary residence.

I have included a rough blueprint of the types of vans we are

currently considering. As you may realize, the majority of these
vans as currently configured are not easily reconfigured to
something that is handicapped accessible.

I would appreciate your telephone or written response at your

earliest possible convenience. We are well into the development
process and would appreciate this input to assure our compliance
with the ADA.

Thank you for your help in this matter. Feel free to contact me
at any time on a digital pager XXXXXXXX or in my office
during business hours at 1-612-520-5551.

Sincerely,

Mark Berg, M.D.

Medical Director
NorthWorks Program