Hospital bridges language gap

Imagine yourself in a medical crisis, in desperate need of emergency health care. Now imagine that the hospital staff and doctors don’t speak your language.

That unsettling scenario used to be all too familiar for Madison families whose first language is not English. As Madison’s multicultural population has grown over the last decade — including sizable increases in local Hispanic, Hmong and Russian populations — the number of non-English-speaking patients seeking quality health care has risen as well.

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At UW Hospital and Clinics, the number of appointments scheduled with Spanish-speaking patients has increased an estimated 100 percent in the last two years.

Providing such patients with the quality health care experience they deserve begins with making them feel comfortable — a feeling that can be created only through effective communication.

“If a language gap exists and we’re not bridging it, we’re not providing good health care to the patient,” says Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, coordinator of interpreter services in the hospital’s patient relations department. “And the only way you can overcome this is to have a professional interpreter present as the patient receives his or her care.”

Bidar-Sielaff’s sole responsibility is to coordinate interpreter services for patients and staff. She’s one of two full-time Spanish interpreters on staff at UW, and a third will be hired soon. When a non-English-speaking patient comes into the emergency room, the staff identifies his or her language and contacts Interpreter Services. An electronic database of more than 100 local freelance interpreters fluent in more than 30 languages is then searched to match the right interpreter with the patient.

If a live interpreter isn’t immediately available, the hospital uses Language-Line Services, a phone interpreter service available to patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The current system represents a vast improvement over the way many hospitals used to handle language barriers. In the past, says Bidar-Sielaff, patients, hospital staff and doctors would often make the common mistake of relying on patients’ family members or hospital staff members whose language fluency is limited to a few classes taken in high school or college.

Unfortunately, these well-intentioned individuals are likely to color the interchange with their opinions or omit key pieces of information while trying to communicate with the patient.

“That’s been the greatest challenge,” admits Bidar-Sielaff. “Making people understand why they need to use a professional interpreter and not just anybody who can speak the language.”

Through outreach, follow-up with physicians and regular appearances at hospital department meetings, Bidar-Sielaff is convinced she’s making a difference in raising awareness of the importance of interpreters in the patient-care equation. “People are really, really happy to see the interpreter there,” she says.

Bidar-Sielaff meets monthly with representatives from other health-care institutions to pool interpreter resources. “It’s a progressive model, one that goes beyond the idea of being competitors,” Bidar-Sielaff explains. “Our ultimate goal is to provide quality health care to the patient, no matter which health-care provider they choose.”