Omar leads Interpreting Services at Lurie Children's

     Every patient and every family of every patient in every hospital is entitled to have complete information regarding diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of the patient. But what if the family and the patient don’t speak the same language as the doctors and nurses giving the care in the hospital? There’s a care-solution and that’s interpretation services.

     I’d like you to meet Omar Torres-Kortright; he’s in charge of the interpreting staff and resources at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. It’s his job to make sure that each and every child-patient’s family is provided with the essential human service of communication between doctors and their families. Whether it is Spanish, French or Portuguese, his interpreters on-staff, and his interpreters on-call, work directly with families and care providers. His department also works side by side with doctors, families and Child Life Specialists to make sure each child is as informed as they need to be for their care as well.

     Omar is the proud beneficiary of this post as Manager of Interpreting Services at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital. His predecessor is currently working with legislature to make sure that programs like this one are available at hospitals across the country.

“Effective communication between health care providers and patients is essential to facilitating access to care,

reducing health disparities and medical errors, and assuring a patient’s ability to adhere to treatment plans.”

     Please watch my YouTube interview with Omar below. He’s a passionate communicator on the subject of making sure the children at Lurie Children’s have the best experience that is possible during their stay. He and his staff are wonderful examples of how Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital provide superior care to their patients and their families.

     According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the foreign born population of the United States numbered 35.7 million people+. Almost 52 million people speak a language other than English at home so there is a growing need for language services in hospitals. Accurate communication avoids delays in care and loss of important cultural information difficulty in obtaining informed consent which can cause a disparage and dissatisfaction of services. In a survey by PALS for Health, 96 percent of those surveyed reported that the PALS interpretation service directly improved their health and well-being. Another study found that Latinos with hypertension and diabetes were significantly more likely to experience improved physical functioning, better psychological wellbeing, better health outcomes and less pain if their primary care physician could communicate with them effectively. Of course this leads to greater satisfaction by patients of their hospital care.

Child Life SpecialistTransport TeamSnow City Arts

Check out Jon-David's interviews: Special People at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago