How can community leaders help create supportive environments to ensure the health and safety of their communities?
INTERPRETER SERVICES PROGRAM
"Our team believes what interpretation scholar Holly Mikkelson says that 'there's nothing like having a living, breathing interpreter present in the room to see people's faces and experience the same environment they're experiencing, rather than a disembodied voice over the telephone.' This is a plan of care that we've adopted."
- GINA DELGADILLO, MANAGER OF INTERPRETER SERVICES
Chester County Hospital's Interpreter Program complements the recommendations published in 2014 by the Chester County Cultural Competency Task Force. The Task Force was initiated following the countywide Community Health Assessment called RoadMAPP. Quite simply, the Task Force recommends that competent language assistance should be accessible, promoted and provided to all individuals who have limited English understanding in a timely manner so that health isn't compromised because of communications.
Chester County Hospital has seven bilingual interpreters who meet face-to-face with Spanish-speaking patients in the hospital, as well as its West Chester-based medical facilities. The hospital also offers telephonic interpretation within the building and at all its satellite locations. This Language Line provides an additional 26 languages, from Albanian to Vietnamese.
The interpreters are on-site Monday through Friday from 8 am to 7:30 pm to round daily on inpatients, plus they are oncall evenings and weekends. When an interpreter is needed, 98% of the time it is for a Spanish-speaking patient.
FY2014 was the busiest year on record for Spanish interpretation. Trained for medicine-specific translating, the interpreters provided more than 3,000 hours of service. For comparison, the interpreters provided just under 900 hours in FY2009, but that quantity of hours jumped up significantly to 2,628 hours in FY2010 and has been growing steadily ever since.
"Our team has been transitioning from the Language Line to in-person Spanish interpretation to provide better service to our patients. Five years ago, about one third of our Spanish interactions were through the Language Line. Today, Spanish-speaking patients see an in-person interpreter in almost every instance. Personalizing communications makes a big difference in their overall hospital experience and improves health literacy and outcomes," says Delgadillo.