Fw: Hotel takes steps to improve stay for disabled

[Guest guest]

Thought this was interesting since LPA's Conference is in a couple of days.

Article: Hotel takes steps to improve stay for disabled

>

> Hotel takes steps to improve stay for disabled

> Spina bifida group's convention, growing market prompt special measures

> By Rick Romell

> of the Journal Sentinel staff

>

> Out with the bananas and the bathroom doors. In with the extra ramps, the

> special lift for the pool and the wheelchair-repair station.

>

> Hosting a convention often places extra demands on a hotel, but the staff

at

> the Four Points Hotel Milwaukee Airport is going well beyond the usual

> limits on this one.

>

> For five days beginning Monday, the Four Points will be home to the annual

> conference of the Spina Bifida Association of America. The event will

bring

> in more than 800 people, including many with the disabling spinal defect.

>

> It's a good piece of business for the Four Points. The attendees will take

> 400 of the hotel's 508 rooms. But it's not simply a question of handing

over

> the keys.

>

> For weeks, the staff at the hotel, at 4747 S. Howell Ave., has been taking

> special measures to prepare for the conference.

>

> Start with the latex sweep. People with spina bifida often are allergic to

> natural rubber, perhaps because of frequent exposure to it during surgery

> and diagnostic tests.

>

> " So we've had to sort of scavenger hunt and look around, " said Jay,

> the hotel's convention services manager. Where workers have found latex -

> such as in the gloves the housekeeping staff uses for cleaning - it's been

> replaced with synthetic products.

>

> Then there was the kitchen patrol. Allergic reactions can be triggered by

> certain foods such as kiwi fruit, bananas and celery. They've been pulled

> from the refrigerator and stricken from the shopping list.

>

> That's just the beginning.

>

> Four Points managers won't be using the boardroom next week. It's being

> turned into a nursery.

>

> Three restrooms will be converted into nursing stations. Each will be

> staffed by a registered nurse - the association is arranging for that, not

> the hotel - and will provide a place for guests to get medications or have

> catheters attended to, Jay said.

>

> A coat-check area, meanwhile, will become a wheelchair-repair station.

>

> " It's the only available space I had left, " Jay said.

>

> The Four Points complies with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act,

> sales and marketing director Annette Smiszek said. But that, for any

hotel,

> would fall short of meeting the needs of a group such as the Spina Bifida

> Association.

>

> For example, the Four Points has 16 rooms fully accessible to people in

> wheelchairs. That's four more than required under the ADA, but hardly

enough

> for this conference.

>

> So chief engineer Blair Schwartz and the maintenance staff will

temporarily

> remove the bathroom doors in 135 rooms and replace them with privacy

> curtains.

>

> They've already installed a special lift giving people with limited

mobility

> access to the swimming pool, put in extra ramps around the property and

> wrapped insulation around the hot-water pipes in 231 guest rooms.

>

> " This was something I hadn't thought of before, " Jay said. " For many

people

> who have no feeling in the lower part of their body, when they roll up to

a

> sink, they may have the hot water running and have their legs up against

> those pipes and get burned and not know they're getting burned. "

>

> Among other measures: renting two additional wheelchair-accessible vans

(the

> hotel already has one), and 15 transfer boards to help people move into

and

> out of wheelchairs, plus making provisions to get more such gear if it's

> needed.

>

> " We had to call medical supply houses and make sure we have backups for

all

> these different supplies, " Jay said.

>

> All of which sits well with the Spina Bifida Association.

>

> " My understanding is they've gone above and beyond what we expected, "

> spokeswoman beth Leongini said.

>

> What the Four Points is doing isn't simply being a good neighbor. Hotel

> executives believe it's good business, too.

>

> The Four Points, formerly the Grand Milwaukee Hotel, fell under the ADA

> requirements when it underwent a $12 million renovation completed last

June.

> The ADA-related improvements - including making the building, public

> restrooms and meeting rooms accessible; re-working the 16 guest rooms for

> use by disabled people; and installing smoke detectors that both sound an

> alarm and flash a bright strobe light - laid the groundwork for hosting

> guests with special needs.

>

> But by going a bit further, Four Points managers are looking to attract

> business in what they see as a growing niche. As increasing numbers of

> hotels and other public facilities across the country have fallen under

ADA

> requirements over the last several years, people with disabilities have

> become more mobile, Jay said.

>

> Greg Burnham, managing director of the International Society of Meeting

> Planners, agreed.

>

> " We are seeing an increase in the number of folks who would fall under the

> ADA participating in conferences and seminars, and we are providing

> information to our travel and tourism professionals to help them

accommodate

> the special needs that arise from this positive direction the industry is

> going, " he said.

>

> The Four Points has some natural advantages in catering to the market.

Most

> of the hotel is a sprawling, low-rise structure, reducing the need for

> elevator use. And the Four Points is close to International

> Airport - convenient if special transportation is needed.

>

> " The idea is not just to do it for this group, " Jay said. " We have had

other

> groups here in the past: blind bowling groups, paralyzed veterans. . . . I

> think it's very important that the general society and the hospitality

> industry become more accessible and more aware. "

>

> The hotel is establishing a good track record in that regard, said Dawn

> Poker, vice president of convention sales and marketing for the Greater

> Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau.

>

> " The Four Points is very sensitive to the needs, " Poker said, " and I think

> we probably all need to be a little more sensitive. "

>

> That's one more thing the hotel has done to prepare for the conference.

The

> Spina Bifida Association conducted a training session for the Four Points

> staff to brief them not just on people's physical needs, but on etiquette,

> too.

>

> Among things they learned: Don't just assume someone needs help; ask

first.

> And think of a person's wheelchair as an extension of their body, not to

be

> touched without permission.

>

> " I think we're pretty prepared, " Schwartz said.

>

> Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on June 25, 2000.

>

Lourash

Transition Resources Coordinator

Central Illinois Center for Independent Living

614 W. Glen Ave.

Peoria, IL 61614

(309) 682-3500 Voice/TTY

(309) 682-3989 Fax

alourash@...

www.cicil.org