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Community Health
Reaching Out to Our Latino CommunityDiscover how we are addressing economic, cultural and language barriers that may affect Latinos’ access to good health careThe Latino population in the Lehigh Valley is projected to make up 36 percent of Allentown’s population by 2009. With this growth comes a need to address economic, cultural or language barriers that may affect Latinos’ access to good health care.
We’re building a number of programs with that goal in mind. One example is Centro de Salud Latino Americano, our full-time bicultural, bilingual internal medicine practice. The best measurement of Centro de Salud’s success is its low “no-show” rate (19 percent, compared to 28 to 37 percent in our medical-surgical subspeciality clinics). When patients keep appointments, it shows they feel comfortable in their “medical home” – and that makes for better long-term outcomes. The key is good communication between patients and their health provider. More than three-quarters of the local Latino population is most comfortable speaking Spanish. To meet that need we’re increasing bilingual staff in our community health practices (Lehigh Valley Physicians’ Practice has risen from 18 to 62 percent), and expanding our team of medical interpreters.
Does someone in your family speak Spanish?Take comfort in knowing we have trained medical interpreters who can help your loved one communicate with our caregivers, ensuring they receive the best care. For more information about our interpreter services, call 610-402-CARE.This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
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