Nov 24, 2009 10:44 pm US/Central
Hospital Denies Treatment To Service Dog Owner
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Annmarie Zan says she was denied access to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove because she brought along her service dog, Samson, who detects seizures before she has them.
CBS
A woman in crisis shows up at a suburban hospital emergency room. She says they refused to treat her. Instead, she says she had to pay for an ambulance to transport her to a different facility. As CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini reports, the problem had to do with her service dog.
Samson, the 2-year-old Black Lab service dog, can do many things, but his main job is to detect seizures before they happen. He gives Annmarie Zan a warning 15 to 20 minutes before she has a seizure, so she can prepare.
Zan told CBS 2 that Samson represents her independence. By law, she is supposed to be able to go anywhere with him.
Zan contacted the 2 Investigators when she and Samson were denied access to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove recently.
"They violated my rights and they made me feel like less of a person," Zan said.
Zan says she was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder related to abuse from when she was a child.
Instead of getting the care she needed, Zan said she and Samson were put into a room to wait while the hospital decided what to do with them. She says she was in that room for about 12 hours.
"I was overwhelmed," she said.
They were then sent to another hospital that would allow Samson. She says being denied access actually cost her money. She had to pay for the ambulance, and the other hospital was not covered under her insurance.
Denying access for service dogs made news recently when a 7-year-old boy named Kaleb Drew was not allowed to bring his service animal Chewey into a downstate Douglas County school. Kaleb has autism.
Karen Ward of Equip for Equality says the dogs are very important to their owners.
"They're everything, in terms of being able to access services and participate in community life," Ward said.
Earlier this month, Equip for Equality helped Kaleb win the right to bring Chewey to school. Now they are looking into Zan's case.
"Her rights were most definitely violated," Ward said.
CBS 2 asked Zan how the experience at the hospital made her feel.
"Like dirt," she said.
In a written statement, a Good Samaritan Hospital spokesman said the hospital regrets any difficulties Annmarie Zan had, and they are investigating the situation.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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