Rochester Post-Bulletin Examines Language Services Mayo Clinic Provides

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 03 Feb 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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The Rochester Post-Bulletin on Saturday examined the Mayo Clinic's use of interpreters, a "critical but often overlooked link in the chain of care." The Rochester, Minn.-based health system offers interpretation services in 23 different languages and has 78 interpreters. The health system has provided language services since the 1930s, according to the Post-Bulletin.

While Spanish, Arabic and Somali are the most commonly interpreted languages at Mayo, clinic interpreters also speak Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Laotian, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Dinka, a Sudanese language.

Interpreters need to be neutral, accurate and proficient, according to the Post-Bulletin. They must only interpret what is said and accurately convey doctors' instructions to patients, such as the amount of a certain medication, and must understand medical terminology.

"A lot of people don't realize that it is a profession," Jane Hughes, supervisor of the language department at Mayo Clinic, said. "We just don't take people off the street because they're bilingual and throw them into a job," she added (Stolle, Rochester Post-Bulletin, 1/31).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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