Uniting to promote language access.

^ ^ ^ ^ a l m Beach County, FL, well-known as the winter home of ^ ^ V s o m e of our country's wealthiest families, is p o m e t i m e s called the "golf capital of the world." But there is I a lesser-known side to this county of 1.3 million residents, in which 15 percent of the children live in poverty and nearly 19 percent of all residents are uninsured. Because many Palm Beach Countians are immigrants from nonEnglish-speaking countries, language differences are a barrier to access to health care for many. According to the 2000 census, 10.3 percent of Floridians are Limited English Proficient (LEP), a 61 percent increase over the 1990 census. In parts of Palm Beach County, the figures are even higher: Twenty-eight percent of the residents of Lake Worth and 24 percent of those of Belle Glade are considered LEP. The primary languages spoken by the LEP residents in Palm Beach County are Spanish and Haitian-Creole, along with several Mayan languages. In 2004, the local health department reported that 43 percent of the patients visiting its clinics in Belle Glade and West Palm Beach were best served by a language other than English. Unfortunately, local hospitals and clinics do not employ dedicated staff interpreters, and there is no comprehensive system for the provision of language services. Many health care facilities tell non-English-speaking patients that they will not be served unless they bring someone with them who speaks English. Health and human service providers frequently ask a patient's child, friend, or other family member to act as an interpreter. However, using such untrained interpreters (who also have personal relationships with the patient) creates significant problems related to privacy and medical accuracy.