at Sutter Health Assessing and Training Dual Role Interpreters

hospital system of 26 affiliated hospi-tals and 9 medical foundations. The objective of this program is to improve language access to limited English pro-ficient patients served by Sutter Health hospitals and physicians through two services: 1) Assessing bilingual staff that serve a dual role as ad-hoc interpreters. 2) Providing interpreter skills training for ad-hoc interpreters through a Web-based, interactive course. This program was funded by The California Endowment. Approximately 33 percent of the population in the Sutter Health coverage area is are considered limited English proficient (LEP).1 Nationally, 49.6 million U.S. residents cannot speak the same language as their medical provider. Meeting the language needs of these patients is a practical necessity, and an integral component of providing patient-centered care. The literature associates language barriers with increased medical errors, misdi-agnoses and decreased access to acut