Waiting Rooms, Barely Accessible.
Posted by Sharon Jacobson on Friday, October 14, 2011
Under: Accessibility Issues
I've been in a fair amount of waiting rooms since I started using a chair full time and frankly, I am amazed at the lack of forethought that goes into the planning of them. You would think that in a doctor's office of all places, it would be totally ADA compliant but I find most of them hitting the just barely compliant mark at least in my books.
Doctors and Sonora Community owned clinics listen up! (also the Social Services office)
Those lovely privacy cubicles that you have up are a great idea... Except for the fact that you shove several chairs into them (Sonora Community Hospital those chairs are heavy and bulky and hard for me to move). The rest of you, perhaps it would do you some good to sit in a chair and try to get those chairs out of your way so you can get in there to the reception desk. My second issue is the waiting room itself, jeeze folks just because you can jam a certain amount of chairs into a waiting room doesn't mean that you should do it. There is no room to park a chair out of the way, some fellow waiters tend to blame the person in the chair because she or he has to park in the way. How hard would it be to remove at least 2 chairs to make a space equal and on the same level as the seating of other waiting people? Overstuffed sofas and center coffee tables are another of my pet peeves when going to a waiting room. There is a OBGYN in Sonora, who's waiting room is set up like that and while I recognise the fact that pregnant women like to be comfortable, someone in a chair is forced to park between the entrance door and the receptionist's window, forced to move back and forth with the comings and goings of others.
Last but certainly not least, Social Services. I sigh when I think that you are there to help people just like me along with the others who are temporarily down and out. Your little people corral with no exit at the reception desk is a nightmare, you have privacy cubicles, stuffed with chairs and the doorway to them is too narrow. The little shelf for signing papers in those cubicles does not stick out enough for comfort, and the reception desk window is up so high that I am lucky that I have enough upper body controll to be able to streach up far enough to stick papers in the hole.
When you are designing a waiting room, please think about the mobility impaired too. We (and I can't say this enough) are people who need services too. If you are in doubt, ask someone who knows if your plans are really compliant and not just passing.
Today... I am babysitting until 1:00am
Whats for dinner?
Onion chicken, baked taters and green beans. I get bags of frozen chicken at the Grocery Outlet for half the price of the ones at the regular supermarkets.
Doctors and Sonora Community owned clinics listen up! (also the Social Services office)
Those lovely privacy cubicles that you have up are a great idea... Except for the fact that you shove several chairs into them (Sonora Community Hospital those chairs are heavy and bulky and hard for me to move). The rest of you, perhaps it would do you some good to sit in a chair and try to get those chairs out of your way so you can get in there to the reception desk. My second issue is the waiting room itself, jeeze folks just because you can jam a certain amount of chairs into a waiting room doesn't mean that you should do it. There is no room to park a chair out of the way, some fellow waiters tend to blame the person in the chair because she or he has to park in the way. How hard would it be to remove at least 2 chairs to make a space equal and on the same level as the seating of other waiting people? Overstuffed sofas and center coffee tables are another of my pet peeves when going to a waiting room. There is a OBGYN in Sonora, who's waiting room is set up like that and while I recognise the fact that pregnant women like to be comfortable, someone in a chair is forced to park between the entrance door and the receptionist's window, forced to move back and forth with the comings and goings of others.
Last but certainly not least, Social Services. I sigh when I think that you are there to help people just like me along with the others who are temporarily down and out. Your little people corral with no exit at the reception desk is a nightmare, you have privacy cubicles, stuffed with chairs and the doorway to them is too narrow. The little shelf for signing papers in those cubicles does not stick out enough for comfort, and the reception desk window is up so high that I am lucky that I have enough upper body controll to be able to streach up far enough to stick papers in the hole.
When you are designing a waiting room, please think about the mobility impaired too. We (and I can't say this enough) are people who need services too. If you are in doubt, ask someone who knows if your plans are really compliant and not just passing.
Today... I am babysitting until 1:00am
Whats for dinner?
Onion chicken, baked taters and green beans. I get bags of frozen chicken at the Grocery Outlet for half the price of the ones at the regular supermarkets.
In : Accessibility Issues