Woman with a disability is not allowed to enter the hospital with an assistance dog

DENVER AND WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. – When Jennifer Snider and her black-and-white spotted Australian Cattle Dog enter a room, it’s not always clear that he is her service animal.

“I’m fit and I look healthy,” Snider said. So in the 10 years she’s been dependent on a service dog, she’s “got used to being bothered with it.”

But when a hospital security guard nearly stopped her from entering the emergency room last month, she felt it was time to fight for better education about the laws that protect access.

“I train service dogs for veterans. So I am very well informed about the law and I will fight,” she said.

Drew Smith, Denver7

Snider started her dog training business “Sit down together” after experiencing the benefits of a service animal firsthand.

“I was a paramedic downtown and it was just pretty traumatic,” Snider said. “I’ve been shot, I’ve been stabbed as a paramedic. I’ve had beer bottles hit my head before.”

When she rescued her first dog, a pug named Tickles, she said, “I realized how much she changed my life and how helpful it was to me.”

It got her thinking that if her veteran father, who died from complications of alcoholism, had had access to a service dog, it might have saved his life.

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She has been training dogs ever since. “And later it turns out that I would develop health problems for which I would actually need extra support,” she said.

Snider has been diagnosed with autism, post-traumatic stress disorder, several heart conditions and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, also known as POTS.

“I randomly faint,” she said.

That’s where her service dog comes in.

Six years ago, Snider decided to take him in from a local shelter.

“He came into my apartment as if he was going to stay there,” she said. “I’m like, okay, El Jefe, you make the rules. So it started as a joke.”

But the name and the dog stuck.

Drew Smith, Denver7

“When his vest is on, he ignores everything. He does his job,” Snider said. “But because I look healthy, people say, ‘Oh, that’s not really a service dog.'”

That’s what happened in early October when Snider went to Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge.

She was nauseous and dehydrated. She had gone to the emergency room earlier in the day, where medical professionals told her to go to the emergency room if her symptoms persisted.

“As a retired paramedic, I think, unless I’m dying, I shouldn’t go,” she said. But she knew she needed help.

It was about 9:30 PM when she arrived. She said the security guard at the emergency room entrance demanded documentation for her service dog.

“When the guy asked me for documentation, I looked at him and thought, ‘Well, there’s no such thing as documentation,’” Snider said.

She tried to talk to him on the phone Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)a federal civil rights law that protects people like Snider from discrimination.

Jennifer Snider

Snider offered to pull up the ADA on her phone, but the guard insisted he knew the law and refused to discuss it further, she said.

“I’m in the emergency room, so I want to be seen. And right now I’m in tears,” she said.

“Thirty minutes of fighting to be seen when you could barely stand,” she said.

Her service dog, El Jefe, stayed by her side.

“He just leans against me and does the pressure therapy he should do when he senses I’m stressed,” she said.

Ultimately, Snider said she spoke with a supervisor who helped her and her service dog enter the hospital to access the medical care she needed.

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Emily Shuman, who helps Coloradans understand the law as director of the Rocky Mountain ADA Centersaid, “A big common misconception with the ADA and service animals is that there is some sort of registry or certification process for service animals. But that is not true.”

A service animal is “specifically trained to do work or some type of task for a person with a disability to assist them with their disability,” Shuman said.

Under the ADA, staff in a public place such as a hospital can only ask for “credible verbal assurances,” she said. They can ask two questions: Is this a service animal necessary for a disability? And what work or task is this animal trained for?

The law does not allow staff to ask about the person’s disability, require medical documentation, require a special identification card or training documentation for the dog, or require that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task to be implemented, according to the ADA website.

“Denying entry with a service animal constitutes discrimination on the basis of disability, which obviously violates the ADA,” Shuman said. “If someone feels discriminated against, he or she can file a complaint with an enforcement agency.”

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After Snider recovered from her illness, she contacted the hospital and security company to inform them of the situation and to request that employees receive more training. She said she has not received a response.

Denver7 reached out to Lutheran Hospital and a representative said patient privacy law prevents the hospital from commenting on Snider’s experience, even though Snider had given permission for the hospital to respond.

Lutheran Hospital issued a statement via email: “Lutheran Hospital takes great care to provide an inclusive, accessible, safe, healing environment for our patients and guests, including those who rely on service animals. We comply with all state and federal laws, including the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Our caregivers receive regular education and training so they are equipped to provide the best care for all patients, including those with service animals. If questions or concerns arise, we will promptly address and correct the issues. We also continually review and improve our practices to ensure we meet the needs of all our patients and provide the highest level of care.”

Drew Smith, Denver7

The security company did not respond to Denver7’s calls or emails.

Snider also filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the Colorado Civil Rights Division.

“It scarred me. I will probably never coherently go to another emergency room again. I’m going to have to be dragged unconscious because it was so traumatic,” Snider said.

Snider hopes that sharing her experiences will help protect others from similar circumstances.

“If someone has a service dog, they’re already having a bit of a hard time in life, so you shouldn’t add to their struggles by bothering them,” she said. “I fight that battle to make sure that the person who can’t handle the situation doesn’t have to.”