DRISCOLL NAMED AMONG LEADERS FOR
NATIONAL MEDICAL INTERPRETER TRAINING INIATIVE

Employee chosen as member of inaugural training group to improve communication between Spanish-speaking families, English-speaking staff through national interpretation project.

(Corpus Christi, TX) Recently, Evelyn Ferrer, Driscoll Children’s Hospital Interpretation Services Coordinator, was selected as one of 25 trainers from across the United States to implement the National Medical Interpreter Project for Children’s Hospitals, a country-wide initiative designed to improve health care communication and safety. In the near future, Ferrer will be training bilingual health care workers in medical terms, interpreting protocol, multicultural understanding, leadership, and teamwork – first to Driscoll staffers, then possibly to other South Texas medical professionals.

Annually, 40% of patients and families that are cared for at Driscoll cite Spanish as their preferred or only mode of communication. Since opening in September 2004, Driscoll’s Interpretation Services Department has answered more than 4000 calls by 2 full-time employees dedicated exclusively to interpretation services.

“Nearly every hospital receives patients with limited English proficiency, but less than 25 percent of the country’s hospitals are staffed with skilled interpreters,” said Barbara Rayes, master trainer for the project and coordinates translation services and language education at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. “Being a good interpreter means having a huge vocabulary in two languages, recognizing cultural differences, and being able to stay personally quiet while repeating what everyone else is saying. It’s an art and science. It takes talent and training. Interpreters play a very, very special role.”

Training bilingual interpreters is an urgent health and safety issue and critical because it increases efficiency and decreases medical errors. In 2001, the University of Arizona and Phoenix Children’s Hospital with input from local and national experts developed the curriculum that trains bilingual speakers to be medical interpreters and medical interpreter trainers. Recent funding from the global organization Ronald McDonald House Charities, Inc. expanded the project to a national level.

“This project will improve patient care and safety by developing trainers,” Rayes said. “Teaching is a natural extension of the communication skills unique to interpreters and we are thrilled that Ms. Ferrer was chosen to be the trainer for Driscoll Children’s Hospital and South Texas.”

“This program will initially be provided to Driscoll employees only, but we plan in the very near future to open these classes up to all health care providers in South Texas,” said Ferrer of the 6 week, 60-hour-long program.

For additional information about the program at Driscoll Children’s Hospital, please contact Evelyn Ferrer at (361) 694-4884.

About Driscoll Children’s Hospital
“Improve the health of adults and you give them back their health …
Improve the health of children and you give them their life.”

Since opening its doors in 1953, Driscoll Children’s Hospital has been offering hope and healing to the children of South Texas for half a century. The facility is a 189-bed pediatric tertiary care center with pediatric board-certified specialists representing 19 medical and nine surgical specialties. Each year, more than 6,000 children are admitted for inpatient care, 5,000 for day surgery, and 50,000 for outpatient primary and specialty care, as well as 40,000 for emergency care, as the first South Texas hospital with emergency services exclusively for children. Additionally, Driscoll maintains a state-of-the-art ground/air transport team, 20-bed pediatric intensive care unit, 40-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and specialized medical outreach.

www.driscollchildrens.org

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