Posted on 06/14/2008 7:52:06 AM PDT by flowerplough
A Chinese-American woman who took her elderly mother to a local hospital was asked by the doctor to serve as an interpreter for her. “Ask your mother if she is sexually active,” the doctor told her. The younger woman looked shocked and embarrassed. In her culture, she told the doctor, daughters never ask their parents such questions.
“Lots of physicians ask custodians to do interpretations,” noted City College of San Francisco Dean of Health Linda Squires-Grohe, pointing to an “obvious need” for a culturally diverse and – equally important – culturally sensitive health care work force.
Squires-Grohe was speaking at the Commonwealth Club of California, where she and two other higher education leaders were honored by The California Wellness Foundation for their efforts to overhaul the state’s health care system. Each of the winners received $25,000.
The other two honorees in this year’s annual Champions of Health Professions Diversity Awards were Juanita Barrena, professor of biological sciences and director of the Science Educational Equity program at California State University in Sacramento, and David Hayes-Bautista, professor of medicine and director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the University of California, Los Angeles. Hayes-Bautista is also an internationally recognized researcher on the culture and health of Latinos.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.newamericamedia.org ...
California’s diversity remains a problem for the real citizens of the state who are paying the bills and suffering cultural and demographic destruction from our governmental liberal socialists who continue to pander to the political benefits of diversity. Meanwhile, the real citizens of California are paying in excess of $20 BILLION per year (latest estimate) for the greatness of our diversity....to say nothing of our $70 BILLION in pending debt...again, another gift from our LIBERAL SOCIALISTS.
I think I’ll stick with doctors who pass the requisite exams without a “diversity” boost.
Diversity is just another term for divide and hate America. Anytime you see a hyphenated last name it most often indicates a liberal diversity type.
Seriously? This exact story?
Except in emergency hospital rooms, the burden of providing a “suitable” translator should be on the person who cannot speak English. There is no way a medical clinic could provide for all possible language difficulties without driving up prices for everyone. If an immigrant wants the luxury of not learning English, he or she should be willing to bring someone along who can.
Let me make a further point: since so many immigrants use emergency rooms as their customary medical care, the burden should be in all non-emergency medical situations whether in an emergency room or not.
This kind of stuff further degrades a professional job. I would be embarrassed if my 80 year old parents were asked this. It's disrespectful and not necessary. What's even more disturbing is the RACE focus. Any profession MUST be MERIT focused. It shouldn't matter what color your skin is - what doesn matter is MERIT - does the person know what they are doing. Of course when English is SHUNNED, you have the language problem. All of this is divisive.
The author doesn’t say but i wonder if the Chinese lady made it? I hope she’s ok.
Then this stand alone sentence:
“Yet few additional educational opportunities are afforded them as they graduate from four-year institutions of higher learning.”
What now? Do they need to get paid to go to grad school? If a university offers the class... take it. There’s your opportunity.
Why the exception?
Have you thought through the costs and the consequences of requiring simultaneous translation, in 148 languages, for ER patients? (In fact, such expense, without payment, of course, is already required, and is wrecking hospital budgets all over the country).
Golly gee. Said California hospital is in violation of federal law. This law courtesy of the Clinton administration mandates all hospitals to provide PROFESSIONAL translation services for patients. It can’t be a relative or a non qualified employee. This little boondoggle costs hospitals a ton. For example, my ER uses a phone translation service for our numerous illegals that ends up costing us $100 per hour. Since we get little or nothing in compensation to begin with for those patients it’s the “icing on the cake” to have to provide them with the translation service.
Yup. Turned out the daughter wanted birth control pills. House told her to stop using grandmother and go to free clinic. Remember, this is two line summary of hour show.
Ever wonder why our visitors don’t organize themselves and take care of this - Mexicans could start an insurance company for illegals and provide them insurance to not burden us - groups could provide language hep as Americans abroad do for each other.
They don’t they are here mostly for the free ride.
“In her culture......” OK . But people unwilling to adapt to the host culture—we used to call it “assimilation”—should stay or go home. Whatever happened to “When in Rome.....”
That is required by Federal law.
Obviously, the supply of Krahn or Dinka interpreters is insufficient to provide 24/7/365 coverage for all 5764 hospitals in the United States, but it's a felony not to provide it, nonetheless.
The Federal health police are busy creating a situation where everyone is a violator, and it's up to the state when and if to pick you up.
It's for the children.
The legal standard in India is that the supplicant (or patient) brings his or her own interpreter.
I suspect they know what they are doing with respect to translator responsibilities there.
I don’t understand why the libs choose the Tower of Babel as their model of society. There is no unity in diversity.
I can't use the phone translation service. They make a lot of mistakes, they often don't speak enough English to form my questions, and I own the liability for what they do.
Just say no.
Now, what is your culture that interrogating your mother about her sexual practices is considered normal? Would that be some country in Africa, or Asia, or maybe Australia?
We all want to know eh!
Recently I’ve seen a ton of diversity in doctors - took my mom to cardiologist yesterday - a female Dr. from India, I have a doctor originally from China., when my mom was in the hospital the doctors and staff reminded me of the Heathrow airport.
Can’t think of a lot of blacks, however.
Then you haven't thought about it very much.
Short of brushing up on my Spanish (which I have decided to do after bowing to the inevitable) I don’t have any options. And I have no other options for Hmong, or Mandarin or any of the other languages that compose the wonderful diversity rainbow that is America.
Embalmed, schmembalmed. They’d probably just cremate you and throw the ashes in the trash.
But since the road signs are all in English, how could a person conceivably be a safe driver if they don’t have at least a minimal ability to read and understand English?
So when we all speak different languages, promote different cultures, different histories & different core believes that will make us strong? Remind again what exactly will unite us?
The destruction of America continues practically unabated. In fact it seems to be picking up speed.
In another example. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
How about this one...
http://www.usatoday.com:80/news/nation/2008-06-10-ohio-lethal-injection_N.htm?csp=34
Articles like this fail to point out that we are THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, not the Diversified States. No one is forced to come here, if you don’t like the system or wants to learn English; you are free to go back to the hell hole you came from. We do not need more people in the USA, we need GOOD ASSIMILATED CITIZENS.
In addition, we have the ABSOLUTELY best Health Care and Culture in the World, we should be praising it not bashing it and pandering to every low life that refuses to assimilate. Had this woman stayed at home her biggest problem would be how to survive day to day, let alone worry about being embarrassed about a question.
So? Did the mom like to get it on?
Yesterday in San Francisco I got on a city bus and the driver, who appeared to be Chinese, simply could not speak English. I was unfamiliar with the area and the particular route of the bus I was on, I was short of time and had an errand I was trying to run, and I needed basic information about where the bus I was on was going to go. The driver was unable to understand or respond to my questions. The next time I buy my monthly bus pass I will be tempted to pay in yuan.
A Nurse asking questions....True Story!
A young female college student came to the college medical station with a tummy ache! The nurse asked the typical questions, including: “Are you sexually active?”
To which the college student answered: “Well, I do move around a lot..” Translation: “When in the rack I do 700 RPMS (Gyrations per minute)!
---------------------------------
In Kalifornia they would need a lot of different translators. English does not seem to be a requirement for a DL.... I guess as long as you can read the pictures...:^)
This is from the state web site....
What other languages is the written or audio test available in?
Besides English, the basic Class C written driver license exam is also available in the following languages:
Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Chinese, Croatian, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Persian/Farsi, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog/Filipino, Thai, Tongan, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
Besides English, the basic Class C audio driver license exam is also available in the following languages:
Armenian, Chinese/Mandarin, Hindi, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Probably braille next. After all, to insist that a person be able to see to get a driver's license would be discrimination, may even profiling! Damn sightists!
Well, that and Sodom and Gomorrah.
By the way, I know where she can find lots of Chinese interpreters...China.
English only sounds a little harsh to some people, but it would really be the wisest and most practical thing for these newcomers to aspire to.
It can be a safety issue, if one refuses to assimilate.
Fools.
NASCAR’s drive for “diversity” is about to cost them a quarter of a billion dollars. LOL!!!
Physicians in California are legally obligated to have a CERTIFIED translator in the exam room for any patient regardless of national origin at the DOC’s expense. Also included in the law is the requirement for the physician to provide a certified sign language interpreter for deaf patients. Again at the Doc’s expense.
Res ipsa loquitur.
Liberals fret about the “cultural gap” in healthcare quite a bit. Usually, they link it to the worse outcomes for minorities on their overall health, lower Rx compliance and a lot of other highly questionable connections. They blame nearly everything on the few words that a Primary care doc shares with a patient, rather than the more obvious cultural, economic, diet, lifestyle and genetic factors that impact health outcomes.
However, if the government starts rationing care, you will see outcomes for everyone start to plunge. That way, they can tell you nicely in Cantonese that the wait for an MRI or surgery will be three months. “Did you want some Chinese herbs while you wait?”
I know of someone who can’t read and when he went to take his permit test he failed miserably. The test site was told by the parent “he failed b/c he can’t read” SO they read the test to him! (had a special room and everything for just that purpose) and he passed. Makes ya feel good to know that, doesn’t it?
Things I noticed:
1. More people went into the office than ever came out.
2. Motorcycle riders who failed the test (riding back and forth on a little track) were sent home on skateboards (what it looked like)
3. There was this absolutely incredibly good lookin' young woman there (could have passed for Blanca Soto but she was fully dressed) ~ and these 5 young Hispanic guys who still had their "driver's exam study book" in their hands spent all their time hitting on her ~ which was probably a good idea at the time.
We eventually wrapped up business there and left. Turned out no eye exam is required at the DMV office in CA if you bring a note from your doctor.
Things I noticed:
1. More people went into the office than ever came out.
2. Motorcycle riders who failed the test (riding back and forth on a little track) were sent home on skateboards (what it looked like)
3. There was this absolutely incredibly good lookin' young woman there (could have passed for Blanca Soto but she was fully dressed) ~ and these 5 young Hispanic guys who still had their "driver's exam study book" in their hands spent all their time hitting on her ~ which was probably a good idea at the time.
We eventually wrapped up business there and left. Turned out no eye exam is required at the DMV office in CA if you bring a note from your doctor.
There are options. I worked at a small community hospital for years and Admin subscribed to a phone translation service. The nurse or doc would call the switchboard and we’d connect them with the 800 #, staying on the line until a connection was made with the translator. There were over a thousand languages we could request. The Telcom dept paid a relatively low flat rate for the service.
I made the exception because someone brought in unconscious or in life-threatening condition hardly has a choice to bring someone who can translate with him or her. In that case, whatever translation is needed for life-sustaining treatment might be made available by the hospital as a charge to the patient (although so many patients don’t pay) but otherwise it ought to be the patient’s responsibility to bring someone with him or her.
That would be great. I wonder why a lot of hospitals don’t follow it. I know my county here in California was selected for a census dry run because we have about 150 languages here. I would hope the county hospital uses such a system. But I don’t think it should be required for doctor offices and routine treatments, even during hospitalization.
And we wonder why it is so hard to find decent physicians these days. I suspect they are moving out of state.
So I assume they’ll detail someone to ride with him and read the signs to him? If not, what makes them think this is a good idea?
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