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Resources and Support Services
Interpreter and Hearing-Impaired Services
Interpreter services are available to patients and families to take a little fear out of medical care, overcome language barriers and communicate effectively. We provide 24-hour, on-site Spanish language-interpreting services within the hospital and dispatch-interpreting services in approximately 200 foreign languages. American Sign Language services are also available via prior arrangements or video.
Certified interpreters make all the difference in providing safe and thorough care to our non-English-speaking and deaf patients. This is not a luxury, but a necessity." Julie Hirsch-Bohs
Manager, Interpreter Services
About interpretive services
Our goals in interpretive services are to ensure our patients have equal access to occupational health services and workers' compensation medical treatment for our limited English proficiency (LEP) population and always remain in compliance with the laws governing the provision of interpreting/translating services. We use the Propio ONE app to connect patients, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing, to interpreters who are fluent in more than 350 languages. Occupational health medical staff will connect the patient to Propio ONE via a clinic iPad for translation services. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We also, when appropriate, educate staff, patients and community as to the role and function of interpreters and the importance of using professional interpreters instead of family members, friends or untrained persons.
Ongoing training is provided for our interpreters. In addition, voice amplification devices are available 24 hours a day for our patients who are hard of hearing. Please contact Patient Relations for this.
We are committed to recognizing your right to understand all issues related to your healthcare. We facilitate this commitment by providing unbiased, accurate interpretation/translation services. This way, you may actively participate in decision making relating to your own care.
To request a qualified interpreter, speak with a member of your care team. This is your right.