MARRERO, La. (WGNO) — Denia Garcia said she was so sick to her stomach recently that she tried to get help from a local hospital emergency room. But Garcia says she didn’t get that help because she doesn’t speak English well enough to explain to the doctor what was wrong with her.
That’s not the case at El Centro Hispanico de Salud, a clinic designed to serve Spanish-speaking patients that opened in January at West Jefferson Medical Center.
Everyone employed at the clinic speaks English and Spanish. That includes the receptionists, the nurses and the doctors.
Garcia’s primary care physician at the clinic is Dr. Magaly Sotres.
Sotres says that most English-speaking patients consider good communication with their doctors a given—something patients often can’t do when their first language is Spanish.
Empowering her patients to get the best possible care is important to Sotres, whose own family heritage is Mexican.
Since the clinic opened, 2,300 patients have been treated.
Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.