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Marcia Gardiner-Sturgeon set her sights on a career in American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting when she saw a man interpreting for his wife at a church service.
“This is what I was born to do,” said Gardiner-Sturgeon, who is now part of a BWH team improving services to the hospital’s deaf community.
Gardiner-Sturgeon, along with fellow BWH ASL interpreter James Wiggins, CI/CT, and Interpreter Services Director Ileana Jimenez-Garcia, is driving several improvement initiatives. The team is creating a database of all the deaf or hard of hearing patients at BWH and acquired a Sorenson Video Phone for patients and their families. The database will inform providers of the best way to communicate with each patient.
The team is also working on hospital initiatives to educate and train clinicians on understanding the differences between sign language and English, how to understand deaf or hard of hearing patients and how best to use interpreters.
And as the state copes with a shortage of medical interpreters, the BWH team is determining how to accommodate all of its deaf patients. “We’re developing a comprehensive emergency on-call service to improve service to our patients during evening hours,” Jimenez-Garcia said.
To do that, Gardiner-Sturgeon and Wiggins remain flexible with their hours so they can meet patients’ needs. They also meet monthly with interpreters from area hospitals and the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH) to discuss how to improve evening, weekend and emergency services. In a pinch, BWH can request interpreters through the MCDHH.
In hopes of stemming the shortage of ASL interpreters, BWH is pursuing a mentorship program with Northeastern University.
“Northeastern has a sign language program that is not focused on medical sign language, so we are working towards a more comprehensive mentorship,” Jimenez-Garcia said. Student internships may begin this fall.
To arrange an appointment with an American Sign Language interpreter or for the video phone, call ext. 2-6639. To arrange for an educational session for BWH staff, e-mail jwiggins@partners.org