New York Hospitals Lack Adequate Translation Services, Civil Rights Complaint States

New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D) on Thursday is expected to formally receive a civil rights complaint contending that the lack of basic translation services in several New York City hospitals is endangering immigrant patients and violating state and federal law, the New York Times reports. The New York Immigration Coalition, a immigrant advocacy group that compiled the complaint, spent two years surveying patients, observing city hospitals and urging officials to provide translation services based on discrimination laws. "Nearly all" of the language problems cited in the complaint concern Spanish and Korean patients, according to the Times. For instance, a survey conducted by Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York found that 40% of patients with limited English-language skills at Flushing Hospital said they received no interpreter services and 47% said they had received language assistance that was inadeqeuate. A follow-up survey found no improvement, according to the Times. Adam Gurvitch, director of the coalition, said that the complaint is a last resort, adding, "We feel like we've hit a wall." Juanita Scarlett, a spokesperson for Spitzer, said, "We're greatly concerned that the health care needs of patients with limited English proficiency are not being met." She noted that the state attorney general's office is conducting an inquiry into the language barriers at four New York hospitals. Michael Fagan, a spokesperson for St. Vincent's Hospital, one of the hospitals expected to be included in the complaint, said that, because of meetings with the coalition, the hospital has made hiring bilingual employees a priority, and 17 employees obtained interpreter credentials in 2004. Margaret Johnson, vice president and general counsel of the MediSys network, which includes two hospitals expected to be named in the complaint, said, "We're very sensitive to these issues," noting that the system has made a "commitment to multicultural awareness" (Bernstein, New York Times, 4/21).