28 CFR Part 35 Title II Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) - Preamble (published 2008)

Hospital and healthcare settings. (Section-by-Section Analysis)

Public entities, including public hospitals, must modify policies, practices, or procedures to permit the use of a service animal by an individual with a disability.  28 CFR 35.130(b)(7).  The exception to this requirement is if making the modification would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity.  The Department generally follows the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the use of service animals in a hospital setting.

As required by the ADA, a healthcare facility must permit a person with a disability to be accompanied by his or her service animal in all areas of the facility in which that person would otherwise be allowed, with some exceptions.  Zoonotic diseases can be transmitted to humans through trauma (e.g., bites or scratches).  Although there is no evidence that most service animals pose a significant risk of transmitting infectious agents to humans, animals can serve as a reservoir for a significant number of diseases that could potentially be transmitted to humans in the healthcare setting.  A service animal may accompany its owner to such areas as admissions and discharge offices, the emergency room, inpatient and outpatient rooms, examining and diagnostic rooms, clinics, rehabilitation therapy areas, the cafeteria and vending areas, the pharmacy, rest rooms, and all other areas of the facility where visitors are permitted, except those listed below.

Under the ADA, the only circumstances under which a person with a disability may not be entitled to be accompanied by his or her service animal are those rare circumstances in which it has been determined that the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others.  A direct threat is defined as a significant risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated or mitigated by a modification of polices, practices, or procedures.  Based on CDC guidance, it is generally appropriate to exclude a service animal from areas that require a protected environment, including operating rooms, holding and recovery areas, labor and delivery suites, newborn intensive care nurseries, and sterile processing departments.  See Centers for Disease Control, Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health Care Facilities (June 2003), available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5210a1.htm.