Members of the Deaf and Deaf-Blind Committee on Human Rights attempt to force their way into the Westlake office of Dr. Kornelia Solymos Thursday. Westlake Police officers, including Capt. Guy Turner, center, block the protesters from entering. (Photo by Kevin Kelley)

Deaf activists protest Westlake doctor
Physician refuses to guarantee interpreters, group says
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published March 22, 2006

About 30 deaf persons and their advocates held a three-and-a-half hour sit-in Thursday at the office of Dr. Kornelia Solymos to demand that she and other physicians provide and pay for sign language interpreters at office visits.

No arrests were made. However, when the doctor refused to meet with representatives of the North-Olmsted-based Deaf and Deaf-Blind Committee on Human Rights, the demonstrators attempted to force their way toward the examining rooms to confront Solymos. Westlake Police officers physically blocked their entry into the inner office. That tense standoff ended after about 25 minutes with the demonstrators pledging to return with more numbers in two weeks.

The well organized protest began at 11:30 a.m. when members of the organization marched unannounced in the lobby of Solymos, located at 29325 Health Campus Drive on the property of St. John West Shore Hospital.

Protesters wanted Solymos to sign a statement promising to provide and pay for sign language interpreters for those patients who require them. About an hour into the protest, members of the Deaf and Deaf-Blind Committee sat down in the middle of the lobby and began passing out lunch bags they had brought with them.

“We are here to protest for the human right of communication,” committee president Ray Seal said through an interpreter.

“Our choice of communication is being oppressed,” Seal said.

Many deaf persons do not have a good command of English because it is not their first language; American Sign Language is, Seal and other protesters said. Therefore lipreading and written communications between doctor and patient are not sufficient, they argued. Family members who know sign language should not be expected to interpret because of privacy concerns, they said.

The demonstrators also said the Americans with Disabilities Act requires physicians to provide and pay for sign language interpreters for deaf patients.

“In order to communicate on such important issues such as health care,” Seal said, “most deaf people would prefer to use an interpreter that can do ASL so that there is clear understanding, especially with a doctor’s communication. If they’re forced to lipread, the statistics are that they’re only going to understand maybe 15 percent of what’s being said.”

Several demonstrators told stories of medical problems they said they encountered, such as being given the incorrect dosage of drugs, due to miscommunication with health care personnel.

Protesters then marched in a circle while chanting slogans such as “No interpreters, no peace,” “Doctors should do no harm,” and “What do we want? Interpreters. When do we want them? Now!”

The chanting, which was repeated periodically throughout the afternoon, appeared designed to disrupt the normal procedures of the doctor’s office.

Solymos shares her practice, Community Family Medicine, with three other physicians.  A separate practice, West Shore Women’s Health Associates, shares the lobby with Solymos’ practice.

Why was Solymos the target of the demonstrators?

The Deaf and Deaf-Blind Committee sent the statements to over 100 area doctors, and about 80 percent ignored them, according to Heather West, a executive director of the group. Solymos’s office requested that the organization fax the information to her office again, West said. When the committee called her office again through a deaf relay calling service, the operator reported Solymos’ office staff sounded irritated that the group was calling again, according to West.

“Another reason is her stature in the medical community,” West said, referring to recognition Solymos has received as one of the top family physicians in the country. “We believe that as a top family doctor, you should be willing to follow the law and be willing to provide interpreting services for deaf and deaf-blind patients.”

None of the protesters were patients of Solymos, West said.

“We want to raise awareness about the issue of deaf and deaf-blind people being refused sign language interpreting services,” West said. “We believe that deaf and deaf-blind should be able to go to any doctor of their choosing, not just a doctor that is willing to provide and pay for sign language interpreting services.”

The scene of the protest, a one-story medical office building off Crocker Road across from Church on the Rise, is owned by St. John West Shore Hospital. Solymos’ office is leased to Premiere Physicians Centers.

About an hour into the protest, the president of St. John West Shore Hospital, Kirby O. Smith, arrived at the office. He quietly listened to the protesters’ speeches for over 20 minutes. After speaking privately with one of the protest leaders, he addressed the group.

Noting that one of his family members belongs to the disabled community, Smith tried to calm the situation.

“We within the health system certainly support and are sensitive to your needs,” Smith told the demonstrators. “We have folks that can help within a larger institution. When you move out into smaller offices, it gets a little harder. And I think there are opportunities for us to do better in this area.”

Smith, who thanked the demonstrators for coming, said he would speak with the executive leadership of Premiere Physicians on behalf of the protesters. After telling the protesters they got their message across and encouraging them to approach the matter in a different way, Smith left for a scheduled meeting.

Westlake Police said it was the hospital’s decision whether or not to arrest the demonstrators. About 16 officers, including some who were off duty Thursday, were called to the medical office because of the confrontation.