“Some 24 million people in the United States have limited proficiency with the English language. When these people seek medical care, they may find it difficult to communicate with doctors and health providers. In urgent situations, lives can be lost or saved depending on whether a hospital has trained staff available to interpret. Hospitals in the United States that receive federal funding are mandated to provide language services to patients. But according to work recently published by San Diego State University health services researcher and epidemiologist Melody Schiaffino, many regions with an urgent need for language services lack them.”
