By SARAH GARLAND

Newsday (New York)
February 16, 2005 Wednesday
Many languages of healing;
City hospitals, both public and private, struggle to keep up with the needs of the immigrant population
BYLINE: BY SARAH GARLAND
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A24

Many Languages of Healing

Scanning the hospital emergency room full of sullen faces, Abel Hernandez looked for someone who could help him.
“I was afraid to come because I don’t speak English,” Hernandez said in Spanish.
Public hospitals in the city, like Metropolitan, say they are trying to prevent patients like Hernandez from falling through the cracks. During the past year, several have implemented new programs to train interpreters and translate signs and documents into more languages.