KP Redwood City Clinic Emphasizes “Care in your Language”
When Kaiser Permanente’s Dr Susan Thorne walks into her exam room at the KP Redwood City Medical Center, she says her patients “light up” when she greets them and starts speaking fluently in Spanish.
“I can’t tell if it’s the Spanish, or if it’s the Mexican Spanish dialect I have, or if it’s because I don’t “look” very Spanish,” laughs Dr. Thorne, who was born in the United States but lived in Mexico City for several years.
Regardless, Dr. Thorne is one of four completely bilingual caregivers at the new Kaiser Permanente Redwood City “Salud en Español” clinic, on the second floor of the Cypress Building in Medical H. “Salud en Español” in Redwood City is part of a major Kaiser Permanente effort to bring culturally appropriate care to Redwood City’s-----and Northern California’s giant Hispanic Community.
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"The last thing that you want to worry about when you’re sick is not being able to communicate effectively with your caregivers. says Dr. Thorne. “Health care discussions between physician and patient are richer in the same language.”
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“It has been shown there are better health outcomes in settings where people feel welcome and culturally understood,” says Dr. Victor Villacorta, who leads the team at “Salud en Español” at KP Redwood City. Aside from four bilingual caregivers (3 physicians and a Nurse Practitioner), there are bilingual staff, nurses and medical assistants on the team.
The setting in Medical H is professional, but with touches of Hispanic culture. All of the signage is in Spanish, and in each exam room, there is a piece of traditional artwork decorating the wall. All of the health education materials, which contain information about conditions like diabetes and depression, are in Spanish.
“We understand our patients better on every level if we speak their language fluently,” says Dr. Thorne, “and our patients understand their illness and care instructions better,”
“Salud en Español” aims to overcome the language barriers that are stumbling blocks to successful medical care. While Kaiser Permanente has won numerous awards for providing staff translators and real-time translation services by telephone for its members, it’s not the same as having caregivers communicate directly with patients.
Dr. Villacorta demonstrated “La Salud Permanente,” a public website in Spanish for members and others. You can access the site at http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/mdo/ and by selecting the Española button. “La Salud Permanente” features information, health advice, and features videos called “fotonovelas”, short and sometimes light-hearted features in Spanish addressing important health issues, the production reminiscent of “telenovelas” on Mexican TV networks.
“Kaiser Permanente is the nation’s only health provider with a website like this,” said Dr. Villacorta. “We are committing a wealth of resources to making our Spanish-speaking members feel they are being listened to, and language isn’t a barrier.”
Dr. Thorne points out there are Hispanic bi-lingual clinical specialists throughout the Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center, and they can be called in to help out at the “Salud en Espanol” clinic.
“We’re a multidisciplinary team and we can call upon pediatricians, nutritionists, health educators and others,” she says.
Dr. Villacorta says Kaiser Permanente is expanding its Hispanic care model outside the Redwood City medical center, using the new KP Mobile Health Vehicle, a 40-foot-long truck based recreational vehicle that parks and opens into a fully-equipped three room medical clinic.
“Bi-lingual medical teams are staffing the vehicle and going to churches and community meetings, offering blood pressure tests and other care aboard the truck-based clinic,” says Dr. Villacorte.
The “Salud en Español” clinic is open daily at KP Redwood City.
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