Within the past five years, Newton-Wellesley Hospital experienced an increase in the number of Limited-English Proficient (LEP) patients visiting its facilities and needed to quickly expand its capacity to provide interpreting services. In addition to recruiting professional interpreters from outside their network, they wanted to build a pool of qualified, trained and competent interpreters, using their valuable bilingual employees, since many spoke the languages in need (Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Haitian Creole and other languages).

Culturesmart was called to provide ongoing consulting services and training for bilingual staff. In order to accommodate budget constraints and the training needs of a small multilingual group, Culturesmart developed a multi-year plan where bilingual employees receive training, coaching and on-going feedback over an extended period of time. To date, over 32 hours of training and language coaching have been delivered to employees who, in addition to their regular roles, proudly serve as qualified, confident interpreters.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital is the premier community teaching hospital in Massachusetts, offering a full range of medical, surgical and specialty care. We also have a 24-hour-a-day emergency department, pediatric emergency department, and dedicated inpatient units with staff who are experts in meeting the needs of orthopedic, critical care and oncology patients. Newton-Wellesley Hospital is a member of Partners HealthCare, a network that includes Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Our Partners affiliation helps to provide patients with seamless accessibility to the finest community-based medicine as well as the most advanced sub-specialty care in the world.

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