[PA-29] Parkland Community Oriented Primary Care Language Assistance Program
Nora Castro, MEd, MA, Parkland Community Oriented Primary Care, Dallas, TX
Organizer: Nora Castro, Address: 3310 Live Oak, 3rd Fl., Dallas, TX 75204
Problem: Patients with Limited English Proficiency face a challenge when accessing medical and/or social services. In order to break down the language barriers for such services, governmental regulations have been established so that institutions implement programs for the Limited English Proficiency patient.
Program: The Language Assistance Program for the Parkland Community Oriented Primary Care was implemented in 1998 to serve all patients and visitors by providing interpretation and translation services so that the Limited English Proficiency patient is able to access medical and/or social services at the COPC Health Centers. Although the Health Centers were and are connected to the teleinterpreting lines, in 1998, 12 on-site Spanish-speaking Language Assistants were hired to serve the Health Centers' population.
Methods: Language Assistants offer Consecutive Interpretation in Spanish, Vietnamese and French. In addition to overhead paging and phones, they staff may be contacted via their assigned individual pagers or by two-way radio. Larger Health Centers are staffed with two or three Language Assistants. All Health Centers, including those with only one Language Assistant, have access to the teleinterpreting lines.
Conclusion: We are now assigned 20 staff members with continuing demand and volume.
