Best Hospitals 2007
Bridging the Language Gap
Some hospitals make non-English-speaking patients feel right at home
The Office of Minority Health in the Department of Health and Human Services has developed 14 guidelines for culture and language services, including one that states that organizations must provide interpreter services at no cost. Though the guidelines don't have the power of law, Garth Graham, the office's director, says they do help, and "folks are moving to the standard of culturally competent care." JCAHO is also starting to ask detailed questions about language services. Since a negative survey report from the commission can ruin a hospital's ability to get insurance reimbursement as well as to attract staff, executives tend to pay close attention.
And for those hospital executives who feel the United States, with a long history of immigration, has done just fine without special language services in the past, Bidar-Sielaff has a reply: "We also used to be a nation that had people with different skin color drink from different water fountains and going to different schools. Things have changed. We should do better now."
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