EQUAL ACCESS IS OUR GOAL
Services we provide include:
UW Medical Center serves a diverse patient population. The Interpreter Services Department provides qualified medical interpreters for limited-English-proficiency and Deaf patients. Interpreter Services coordinates the services of 40 staff interpreters and hundreds of agency interpreters, who provide services in more than 80 languages.
Recognizing that telephones are a major communication tool in our culture, UW Medical Center developed the Language Lines voice mail boxes. These are dedicated voicemail boxes, one for each major language group served, and allow patients to call and leave a message in their own language.
How It Works
The patient indicates which care provider he or she needs to contact and what they would like to accomplish. An interpreter picks up the message and then makes the connection between the patient and his care team.
Language Lines phone numbers are located on our Contact Interpreter Services page.
The Interpreters make reminder calls to patients in their own language two working days before appointments, using this opportunity to answer patients' questions about way-finding and other concerns.
Interpreter Services partners with Patient and Family Education to translate as many documents as possible. Patients may ask their care team whether the education materials for their situation are available in their own language.
Cultural competence is an important part of serving a diverse population well. Interpreter Services participates in bridging the cultural gap between patients and the American medical culture. This bridging can occur during interpreted sessions when the interpreter suggests that the provider take a different tack to understand a patient's needs and preferences. Interpreters also assist in training health care personnel in cultural competence.