Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of the 80th District.
Lack of Interpreters is a Life and Death Situation for Many
By Lorena Gonzalez
There are more than 50 languages spoken more comfortable and proficiently than English by the residents in the South Bay and Mid-City San Diego neighborhoods I represent. Throughout California, this challenge is shared by more than 6.5 million Californians, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
Ordering food. Asking for directions. Attending school. Interviewing for a job. Filling prescriptions. Rescheduling appointments.
No situation involving a language barrier is as frightening, though, as one that risks the life of a loved one.
I was moved, when I heard the story of Dora Beatrice Lopez-Aguilar, an immigrant mother from Mexico, whose family lives and works here in San Diego. When Dora was unable to effectively communicate with staff members at the hospital where she had just given birth, Dora’s newborn nearly died.
Dora shared, “If the cleaning lady had not stopped by my room, when she heard me screaming for help and then gone to get a nurse, I don’t know what would have happened to my baby.”
As a mother, I cannot imagine the debilitating horror of not being able to fight to save my children’s lives simply because my words were not enough.
Dora is just one out of approximately 2.5 million people in our state’s healthcare program, who are in desperate need of the assistance of an interpreter. With nearly half of new Medi-Cal patients also with an inhibiting language barrier, the challenge in attending to these residents with the care they deserve continues to grow and perpetuate.
California must effectively implement and sufficiently support programs that create interpreter jobs for bilingual members of our community.
The Affordable Care Act allows for millions of federal dollars to fund access to interpreters in the Medi-Cal program. Accessing that money is vital in connecting Californians to the care they and their families need.
But it is not enough for us to provide interpreters, however. It is imperative that we also monitor the quality of interpretation available to our residents. It has been reported that even patients of San Diego’s own famed medical institutions, like UCSD Medical Center, have found it necessary to bring friends and family as supplementary interpreters because of issues involving trust and quality control. Our state must ensure our efforts are not made in vain.
Gov. Jerry Brown will be presented with the opportunity to accept these federal dollars and address the quality of care of our state’s patients. I fully support my fellow Californians, who are working tirelessly to develop the proper resources necessary to meet the language access needs of all patients. With so many lives at stake, we cannot afford to wait any longer for this much-needed lifeline.
Lorena Gonzalez represents the 80th Assembly District, which includes Chula Vista, National City and the San Diego neighborhoods of City Heights, Barrio Logan, Sherman Heights, Paradise Hills, San Ysidro and Otay Mesa, in the California State Assembly.
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More damage control from a Gonzalez, reaching out in the columns of San Diego Free Press, hoping that amnesia from short attentions spans will kick in.
Did Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez need an interpreter the night she and other ambitious politicians like Juan Vargas met together and called for Mayor Filner’s resignation? Has Lorena translated her endorsement of Nathan Fletcher into Spanish?
Was that really necessary, Fran? What does her endorsement of Fletcher have to do with the issue of a lack of interpreters in hospitals?
I hate to burst your bubble, But Brent reached out to Lorena for an essay on this topic which is important to his community.
The message is important to “my” community too, Doug, but I didn’t appreciate the messenger in this instance and have said so and why. I see below that Brent didn’t like some comment and he just deleted it. Is this how it works? What exactly are the ground rules for comments at SDFP and what latitude does the editor have for picking and choosing? I’m sure everyone would like to know.
Read the Terms of Use above and quit whining.
I read them Brent. Let the record show you have deleted two of my comments
directed at you and your rude tone. You are the man with the power today.
I would like to take credit for deleting your comments but, unfortunately, I can not.
Do you have an opinion on the need for hospital translators? Or do you prefer to stay off topic?
I’m in Lorena’s corner on this one. There is a life and death need for this. Too many non-English speakers are being harmed by the lack of translators. I applaud her for taking up this issue which she has been involved in before Filner’s proclivities came to light.
I agree with Jim Mahler that Lorena Gonzalez’s endorsement of Nathan Fletcher undermines the Labor Council, the progressive coalition we worked hard to build, and calls into question Lorena’s political judgement and integrity.
I happen to agree with mahler’s letter. But posting it here on an article about interpreters is simply disrespectful. Please quit acting like a republican.
I just came from a meeting with our Translation Dept and heard so much about the local community language needs. I had no idea how prevalent Arabic is becoming in the city. Not to mention so many others like Vietnamese, Tagalog, Somali. And let’s not forget that there’s even different dialects within these languages. Our translators not only “translate”, but they also interpret, and in a lot of cases, act as counselors. They are truly a lifeline for so many, and their importance cannot be overstated.
So when I coincidentally saw this article, I had no choice but to click on it. But then I was quickly offended by the unrelated comments and especially by some joker’s display of cut and paste skills. Can we just axe the useless words from those clearly hurting for places to vent, that are distracting from the topic and have nothing relevant to contribute?
I deleted Mahler’s letter from your comment. This is not the forum for that. I almost deleted your entire comment because it has nothing to do with the article. But then I would have had to delete the replies as well. If you want to dis Lorena go ahead and contact her directly or do it on your own website. Don’t do it here.
Brent couldn’t manage to talk about the need for Spanish language translators for social services throughout San Diego himself? Or find someone else to discuss the need? Like a person who actually delivers such services? Instead we get Lorena Gonzalez?
We are all pleased to move on to greener pastures, Brent, just as you seem to be, however crudely you express it. But for you to bring in Lorena Gonzalez to opine in the SDFP about anything at all right now seems like a thumb in the eye to many people, including me.
Lorena Gonzalez’s brother Marco has just taken up a lot of ink this week trying to justify what he did to destroy the former Mayor with his pals Cory Briggs and Donna Frye. Marco’s offensive offensive follows a weekend of same from Cory Briggs. Marco Gonzalez’s sister Lorena herself played an active anti-Filner role during the crisis and she is now openly backing Irwin Jacobs’ political changeling Nathan Fletcher as a mayoral replacement — doubtless good for her own future campaign funding needs.
Meanwhile a fractured Democratic environment is shaping up in the mayoral race and that might focus your mind to the subtleties that are unfolding. For the moment anyway we need fewer in-your-face insults to people who want a non-Nathan Fletcher non-Faulconer outcome.
Zzzzz… Let me know when you have something constructive to add instead of constant harping on Gonzalez et al. Your ad hominem attacks on them doesn’t help the discourse.
The availability of translators IS a life and death issue in City Heights. Megan Burks at SpeakCityHeights has been covering this issue for months.
We need a solution to this problem. The sequester has impacted services to refugees and immigrants in City Heights. Over forty percent of the residents are foreign born and struggle with English acquisition skills.
There is a need for people of good will to address this issue throughout the city and county. How are we going to do that?
How do you say “scorned” in Spanish?
Seems like Fran has as much right to express her opinion as Lorena does. Not necessary to treat it with disdain or edit based on alternative views. Maybe get Duncan Hunter in here to talk about why he opposed Obama s Syrian initiative?
The responses to this column have clearly included alternative views. Comments are deleted not because they express alternative views but because they don’t conform to our comment policy. All of the editors are responsible for monitoring comments and exercising their individual judgement as necessary. We have learned that personal attacks take the oxygen out of discussions. Off topic comments are permitted up to a point.
Are these judgements subjective? Yes, they are subjective as well as based upon thought- out and evolving principles. Editors need to make subjective decisions and understand the basis of their subjectivity. We don’t publish every comment and do not feel compelled to publish every comment.