Supporting Our Hispanic Patients and Community

Hispanic Heritage Month is Sept. 15 – Oct. 15. Since 1988, Americans have observed these four weeks to celebrate the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 62.1 million Americans identify as Hispanic, making up 19% of the total U.S. population—and they are our patients, community members and employees.

While Hispanic Heritage may be formally observed for a month, we are an organization committed to fostering an environment where everyone feels welcomed and valued, and we have many practices in place to support our Hispanic community all year.

Here are some examples of how we’re working to reach our Hispanic patients, employees and community:

• Carilion Direct began partnering with LanguageLine Solutions in 2020 to provide interpretation for Spanish-speaking patients during calls. Before the partnership, patients had to wait for an interpreter to join the call or could be transferred multiple times because of the language barrier. The line has since expanded to other languages. Our previous article has more information.
   
• Many parents at Roanoke's LIFT Center at Fallon Park Elementary School don’t speak English, and many speak Spanish. To help parents and guardians better understand and be more involved in their children's education, Community Health and Outreach (CHO) contracts an English-language learning (ELL) teacher to offer them free English learning classes twice a week during the school day. Any family with a student at Fallon Park is welcome to join the classes. CHO is also piloting evening classes that include child care.
   
• Carilion Children's at Tanglewood has an in-house interpreter to help communicate with patients' parents to make sure they understand their child's diagnosis and next steps. In-house interpreters are also accessible 24/7 to our clinics, hospitals and other areas of our organization to provide safe and clear communication. See our Interpreter Services page to access an interpreter.
   
• Communication has been a powerful tool in helping slow the spread of COVID-19. During the pandemic, and now, we have shared important messages about the virus in Spanish to reach Spanish-speaking populations in our service areas. Some examples are listed here; see our previous article for more information:
  • "Seeing You Safely" web page, which communicates about safe practices at our facilities
  • “What to Expect at Your Visit” office visit guides
  • Billboards and social media posts
  • Videos featuring Mariana Gomez, M.D., of our Infectious Diseases team, who is fluent in Spanish

• Some of our flu ads will be translated in Spanish, and a video in Spanish with Dr. Gomez sharing facts about the flu is also planned for our social media channels.

• Our Laundry Services team adjusts many services to serve our Spanish-speaking employees, as well as speakers of other languages. Here are some examples:

  • Annual inservices and an annual safety training specific to Laundry Services are completed in a live classroom with interpreters. Some of the materials also have been translated into Spanish and other languages spoken by Laundry Services employees.
  • During the first year of the pandemic, Laundry Services continued fully operating as an essential department and developed language-specific COVID-19 safety training.
  • English classes are offered daily in their training room.

Don McMullen, Human Resources consultant, helps employees who speak Spanish and other languages with their training needs. He says, "I know of no other organization that puts so many resources toward helping patients and employees from diverse backgrounds and cultures as Carilion does."

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, share in the comments below if you self-identify as Hispanic American, and tell us how you celebrate the month!

If you have ideas about other ways we can reach our Spanish-speaking community, contact the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:

• Dr. NL Bishop
  nlbishop@carilionclinic.org
• Briana Apgar
  blapgar@carilionclinic.org