New Haven Independent

Posted by: fedupwithliberals | February 18, 2008 8:45 AM

Send the bill to Mexico.

Posted by: elmcityexpat | February 18, 2008 1:33 PM

Sigh. I got to see this in action last Wednesday when I took my husband to the Emergency Room at Yale-New Haven for a dislocated shoulder. There was an lady who spoke only Farsi, accompanied by her husband who spoke quite good English. The doctor could see the woman was in pain and kept asking the man if his wife wanted painkillers. The man refused to answer one way or another, to the consternation of the doctor and other medical staff, who wanted to help the woman IF she wanted to be helped. The doctor had no recourse to a Farsi-speaking interpretor, so the farce continued of the doctor asking the man to ask his wife if she wanted her pain alleviated, the man occasionally speaking to his wife (whether it was to ask her if she wanted pain relief, I have no idea, as I am for all intents and purposes a monoglot), and nothing getting done while this woman writhed in agony. All quite horrible.

Posted by: Frank Iezzi | February 18, 2008 8:29 PM

Save Money?

When I was working at Y-NHH, we used to volunteer to help non english speaking people by signing up with the patient services department for a language that you were fluent in. With the diversity of interns, attendings and Fellows in the hospital, you always had plenty of interpreters to assist with the delivery of services to the patient population. I don't know how it ever got turned into a paid service, but the whole situation sounds like a money grab and patronage job to me.

Stick to your guns, Governor Rell! No need to contribute to the high cost of healthcare with this fleecing of the taxpayer.