Hip, Hip, Hooray! Three big wins for ESL and healthcare around the nation this week.

Greetings from the sunny Outer Banks of North Carolina! The weather is great, the beach amazing, and the sharks are real. We’ve seen dolphins every day and Saturday surprised us with two smaller (?) sharks much too close to shore for me.

Since we are in NC, let’s start off with some encouraging healthcare news from the Tar Heel State. Jenny Callison writes in, Piecing Together Health Care’s Puzzle, that community health centers, specifically FQHCs (federally qualified health centers) provide much needed health care in rural and under-served urban communities. FQHCs can reduce emergency room visits by as much as 30%, saving thousands of dollars that hospitals in these areas usually must absorb because patients are uninsured and live in poverty. An FQHC works by giving the community centers a set amount of federal aid. Centers can apply for more grants to help fund costs. Most centers charge patients on a sliding scale based on their income.

Are you waiting for the exciting ESL news about FQHCs? Here it is! FQHCs are required to serve patients in the language of the patient’s choice. Yes, read it again. FQHCs are required to serve patients in the language of the patient’s choice. The centers boast full-time interpreters with some FQHCs employing a staff in which more than half are bilingual. If a translator is not available, the FQHCs work with a company that provides real-time video interpretation services.

Speaking of video conferencing, IVCi (a video conferencing service provider) published a press release this week citing benefits their technology offers medical centers including expanding patient reach, improving research and training programs, increasing communication across organizations, and offering a competitive advantage. I have to admit I was surprised that reducing language barriers did not make the top five reasons why medical centers should invest in video conferencing options.

Other healthcare/language wins around the country this week include how Hispanic nurses rise above language barriers to reclaim careers and How ESL training can benefit non-native speakers and boost business. Let’s take a closer look at both stories…

In La Villa Hispana, Mark Oprea shares how nurses from Puerto Rico, now residing in Ohio, are able to take a free 12-week course to help pass the NCLEX (the national test for nursing licensing). The five to six hour exam is a competency based test of 256 questions ranging from topics such as medication dosage and hospital safety. The test is considerably harder with limited English proficiency. That is why the course also comes with interpreters who translate lectures and provide other services for ESLs.

With a national nurse shortage, demand is high once these professionals obtain their licenses. A license isn’t the only thing the nurses gain upon completion. The course boosts wages and self-esteem as many learn to master the basics of English for the first time. Truly a worthwhile and much needed service! Felicidades!

Finally, this week’s article by Riia O’Donnell (How ESL training can benefit non-native speakers and boost business) outlines reasons why ESL training should take priority in the workplace. Many organizations have found that ESL training improves the overall culture, team building, and productivity. Other benefits of language development include the ability for a company to promote from within and attract and maintain employees.

Companies that make a commitment to help their employees acquire a new language see stronger connections in their workplace and communities (Hmm…didn’t we discuss this as a benefit of digital storytelling?). Workplace settings also help to put language in context, making it easier to understand.

Overall, this week’s readings prove to be ones that adequately address the disparities of English language learners and provide hope and opportunity to level the language playing field.