Fort Hamilton Hospital and Mercy Health — Fairfield Hospital have plans to introduce video translation services in the near future.
In 2011, 60.6 million people — or 21 percent of those ages 5 or older — spoke a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Dr. Marcus Romanello, chief medical officer at Fort Hamilton Hospital, said Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken by the hospital’s patients. The hospital has a certified interpreter on staff at the hospital 40 hours a week, as well as several bilingual physicians.
Romanello said the hospital utilizes a third party phone service for translation services during off hours or weekends. But in the next month, Fort Hamilton plans to implement an Internet-based video conference system called MARTTI — My Accessible Real Time Trusted Interpreter — that’s already used in other locations of the Kettering Health Network.
“It can translate the vast majority of languages,” Romanello said.
Sharon Howard, spokeswoman for Atrium Medical Center, said the Middletown hospital has designated staff for handling language barriers as well as a contract with the Vocal Link program for volunteer interpreters.
“We also utilize the MARTTI system, which is an interactive interpreter service, with over 400 languages included,” Howard said in an email.
Elsa Boyer, language access manager for Mercy Health in Ohio and Kentucky, said the health system uses contracted interpreters in person and over the phone. She said there are about 70 phones throughout the Fairfield Hospital that are used for translation services with dual headsets for the patient and nurse.
“We are working on video,” Boyer said, adding it’s the best option for deaf patients.
At Fairfield Hospital, about 75 percent of the translation needs are for Spanish, with the rest being a mix of French, Nepali, Russian and Arabic. The hospital gets 450 calls a month for translation services and another 200 on-site visits of interpreters each month.
Boyer said they are testing the video technology first before launching the program to make sure the picture is clear and connection strong. She said there are two computers at Fairfield Hospital ready to take on the video conferencing as soon as it’s green-lighted.
Boyer said before her current role, she worked as a Spanish interpreter at Fairfield Hospital.
“When (the patient) comes in they might be very scared, might not have family here,” Boyer said. “It’s comforting to hear their native language and culture.”
Speaking through the iPad from an office in Costa Rica, Edward Blackall, a certified interpreter with LanguageLine, told this newspaper that he’s “loving” the new video capabilities. For the past 11 years he was an audio-only Spanish interpreter for LanguageLine but video services were added in the last six months.
“Something about it makes it more relaxed, personalized,” Blackall said.
Translators are available to patients in West Chester 24 hours by video and audio for American Sign Language and Spanish, Bake said. Translators in about 10 other languages, including Korean, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Russian and Arabic, are accessible by video from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Friday and by audio 24 hours a day.
The iPad program includes functions of closed captioning and emoticons for pediatric patients.
Bake said during the first month of use, the iPads were used seven times — now they are used over 115 times a month in areas of the hospital including the surgery and emergency departments. Bake said the hospital still schedules live translators for surgeries and other procedures that are known in advance.
Bake said the hospital is working now to purchase about a dozen more iPads for all the outpatient clinics to use, including the surgery center, women’s center and the UC Health Physicians Offices North and South.
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