Senator Monica Martinez (D) has recently been on the frontlines spearheading the opposition to what she considers troubled waters in store for South Shore University Hospital.
Northwell Health stirred controversy when they announced the Bay Shore-located campus will do away with its on-site Spanish-speaking translators and interpreters that bridge the communication gap between patients and families with little to no English proficiency.
Martinez believes this could adversely affect the care these patients receive. “Patients who cannot communicate effectively are at risk of receiving incomplete or incorrect medical attention,” she said.
The polarizing plan reverses the standard South Shore University has upheld for the past 23 years, opting to proceed with a phone and video-based system to assist in the dissemination of updates in a patient’s healthcare past language barriers.
Under this new system, a 24/7 “Language Line,” already used for other languages will now accommodate Spanish-speaking patients.
A petition has been launched by critics of the shift to remote interpretation, calling out the notion that culture-based exclusion, and what they attest to as overall inhumaneness, can ever qualify as progressive practice.
In her plea, Martinez implored the hospital to recognize that Spanish-speaking patients already have enough mistrust of the national healthcare system. She contends that the elimination of live translation is liable to bring about unnecessary mental strife for physically ailing individuals.
While Northwell has indicated that it remains committed to serving the Spanish-speaking community, this has not quelled the concerns of the virtual model's critics, who remain steadfast in their “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” stance.
Formerly Southside Hospital, South Shore University opened as Babylon Hospital in 1911.
Over a century later, they remain—albeit while taking reputation hits compared to other Long Island hospitals when it comes to matters like this.