EDMONDS – Filling out health care paperwork can be confusing enough without having to translate it from English to a second language.
“Language definitely is a big problem,” said Rosario Reyes, who operates Las Americas Plaza in Lynnwood, providing help to Hispanic businesses.
Sometimes, people have health insurance but don’t know that it covers many of their medical expenses, she said. Other times, patients end up at the emergency room after an accident “and don’t understand how the system works – and the financial responsibility,” she said.
So Reyes has a stack of cards in her waiting area with a message written in five languages: Stevens Hospital in Edmonds has launched a 24-hour toll-free phone service that people can call from home to try to help them navigate the health care system.
Callers are linked to people who can help them get answers in one of 127 languages.
It’s one of several steps the hospital is taking to better communicate with patients in an increasingly culturally diverse community.
Approximately 7.5 percent of the 48,000 patients it treats each year now use interpreters as they receive care at the hospital.
Likewise, about 10 percent of patients admitted to Providence Everett Medical Center, the county’s largest hospital, use interpreter services, said Norm McFarland, who oversees Providence’s care management.
The Everett hospital used interpreters 2,257 times last year, translating in 34 languages. The most common were Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese, but include a range of languages including a recent request for the African language of Swahili, he said.
Stevens Hospital’s new phone line is intended to help people with questions either before they’re admitted to the hospital or with issues such as insurance after they leave.
“You can see the changes, not just from the faces in the community, but shops and retail businesses,” said Dr. Jon Pazevic, who works in the hospital’s emergency room.
Increasingly, the hospital is treating patients who speak only a little English or no English at all, he said.
The four most common non-English languages used by patients are Korean, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.
It’s important to take steps to show respect for other languages and traditions, such as a bow to Asian patients, he said.
“Small things help put more people at ease,” Pazevic said.
Work on the hotline began last year. Stevens partnered with WashingtonCAN, a nonprofit agency that works on health care and justice issues.
Volunteers from the agency talked with groups in south Snohomish County, including the Korean Women’s Association and Edmonds Community College, to find out how much interest there was in establishing the hotline, said Maru Mora Villalpando, an organizer with WashingtonCAN.
Now the organization is working with the hospital to help spread the word on the new service.
About 10,000 cards announcing the new service are being distributed to organizations such as the Community Health Center of Snohomish County, the Korean Cultural Center and Hispanic businesses such as Reyes’, said Beth Engel, hospital spokeswoman.
Other steps are in the works, she said, such as putting up universal signage, or signs that use symbols instead of words, to help people locate key areas in the hospital. Its patient welcome kit also is being translated.
“I’m a first-generation immigrant myself; I sympathize with having to deal with barriers,” Reyes said.
“Language definitely makes accessibility better. It’s a good start,” she said of the hospital’s efforts. “I’m very pleased.”
Hotline Stevens Hospital’s new toll-free hotline to help answer questions from patients who speak languages other than English is 888-603-5095.
It is not for medical emergencies, but can help answer questions before or after people are treated at the hospital, such as with insurance paperwork or understanding the hospital’s charges.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
