Intermountain Health is committed to ensuring that all persons have an equal opportunity to access and participate in its programs and activities. This includes providing accommodations for those who need communication assistance, whether it is due to a disability such as the deaf or hard of hearing, or to Limited English Proficiency (LEP).
Interpretation services are offered FREE of charge in all facilities, at all points of contact, and during all hours of operation.
In 2022, Intermountain Health provided interpretation services in 120 languages and about 53,000 patient encounters a month.
Intermountain Health has a team of over 90 staff interpreters in 8 languages (Spanish, Portuguese, American Sign Language, Tongan, Samoan, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Marshallese) and contracts with multiple in-person and remote interpretation agencies that provide services in over 200 languages.
Interpreters are required to be professionally trained and/or certified and Intermountain is a licensed trainer for professional medical interpreting classes that are offered several times a year.
For pre-scheduled appointments, notify the scheduler of the need for interpretation, for you or any family members during the appointment scheduling process.
Alert the scheduler of any additional special needs or preferences (between in-person, video remote interpretation (iPad), or telephone interpretation). If in-person interpretation is desired, we will do our best to accommodate your request.
For emergency or unscheduled visits, let caregivers at the reception desk know that you would like an interpreter as soon as you arrive.
Because a patient’s health is so important, Intermountain Health only allows qualified medical interpreters in facilities. Family members (especially children), friends, or non-trained bilingual individuals should not be relied upon as interpreters.
Interpreters are also cultural mediators and bring context to cultural differences that may impact communication. (ie: mal de ojo, empacho)
Professional interpreters will interpret everything that is said as it is said. They become your voice and will not add, take away or change anything. Their goal is to make the conversation flow as if both people spoke the same language. They are bound by HIPAA and will keep everything confidential.
For more information, visit intermountainnv.org.
