Penn Medicine’s medical interpreter services are provided through professional medical staff interpreters, phone interpretation, video remote interpretation, and contracted services with interpretation agencies.
Information about Penn Medicine language services
If you speak a language other than English, language assistance services, free of charge, are available to you. Please inform our staff that you need a language interpreter.
- English:
We offer free language assistance for patients, family members and visitors who speak a language other than English or who are deaf or hard of hearing. Call 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Spanish:
Ofrecemos asistencia lingüística gratuita a pacientes, familiares y visitantes que hablen un idioma distinto del inglés o que sean sordos o tengan dificultades auditivas. Llame al 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Chinese (Simp.):
我们为讲英语以外语言、失聪或听力障碍的患者、家属和就诊人士提供免费语言协助。详询 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000)。 - Korean:
저희는 영어 이외의 언어를 사용하거나 청각 장애나 청력 이상이 있는 환자, 가족, 방문객을 위해 무료 언어 지원을 제공하고 있습니다. 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000)으로 문의하십시오. - Portuguese (Brazil):
Fornecemos assistência linguística gratuita a pacientes, familiares e visitantes que não falam inglês ou que sejam surdos ou tenham deficiência auditiva. Ligue para 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Gujarati:
અમે જેઓ અંગ્રેજી સિવાયની ભાષા બોલતા હોય અથવા જેઓ બહેરા અથવા સાંભળવામાં અક્ષમ હોય તેવા દર્દીઓ, પરિવારના સભ્યો અને મુલાકાતીઓ માટે વિનામુલ્યે ભાષા સહાય ઓફર કરીએ છીએ. કૉલ કરો 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Polish:
Oferujemy bezpłatne wsparcie w zakresie językowym pacjentom, członkom rodziny i gościom, którzy mówią innym językiem niż angielski, są głusi lub niedosłyszący. Proszę dzwonić pod numer 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Italian:
Offriamo assistenza linguistica gratuita per pazienti, familiari e visitatori che parlano una lingua diversa dall'inglese o che sono sordi o ipoacusici. Chiamare 800-789-7366 (TTY: Telefono per non udenti) 215-662-4000). - Arabic:
إننا نقدم مساعدة لغوية مجانية للمرضى وأفراد الأسرة والزوار الذين يتحدثون لغة أخرى غير الإنجليزية أو المصابين بالصمم أو ضعف السمع. اتصل برقم (TTY: 215-662-4000) 800-789-7366. - Tagalog:
Nag-aalok kami ng libreng tulong sa wika para sa mga pasyente, miyembro ng pamilya at mga bisita na nagsasalita ng ibang wika maliban sa Ingles o mga bingi o mahina ang pandinig. Tumawag sa 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Russian:
Мы предлагаем бесплатную языковую помощь пациентам, членам их семей и посетителям, которые говорят на языке, отличном от английского, а также глухим или слабослышащим. Звоните по номеру 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Haitian Creole:
Nou ofri asistans lang gratis pou pasyan, manm fanmi ak vizitè ki pale yon lang ki pa angle oswa ki soud oswa ki gen difikilte pou tande. Rele 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Hindi:
हम ऐसे रोगियों, परिवार के सदस्यों और आगंतुकों के लिए मुफ्त भाषा सहायता प्रदान करते हैं जो अंग्रेजी के सिवाए कोई अन्य भाषा बोलते हैं या जो बहरे हैं या बहुत ऊँचा सुनते हैं। 800-789-7366 पर कॉल करें (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Vietnamese:
Chúng tôi cung cấp dịch vụ hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ miễn phí cho bệnh nhân, người nhà bệnh nhân và khách thăm không giao tiếp bằng tiếng Anh hoặc bị điếc hay khiếm thính. Hãy gọi 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - French:
Nous offrons une assistance linguistique gratuite aux patients, aux membres de la famille et aux visiteurs qui parlent une langue autre que l'anglais ou qui sont sourds ou malentendants. Appelez le 800-789-7366 (ATS : 215-662-4000). - Urdu:
ہم اُن مریضوں، اہلِ خانہ اور وزیٹرز کے لیے لسانی معاونت کی پیشکش کرتے ہیں کہ جو انگریزی کے علاوہ کوئی اور زبان بولتے ہوں یا جو سماعت سے محروم ہوں یا اونچا سُنتے ہوں۔ 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000) پر کال کریں۔ - Pennsylvania Dutch:
Mir biete freye Schproochhilfe fer Patienten, Familje-Mitglieder unn Besucher, wu en annere Schprooch wie Englisch schwetze oder deaf oder hard vun Gehøør sin. Ruuf 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000) aa. - German:
Für Patienten, Familienmitglieder und Besucher, die taub oder schwerhörig sind oder eine andere Sprache als Englisch sprechen, bieten wir kostenlose Sprachassistenz. Rufen Sie 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000). - Khmer:
យើង ផ្តល់ជូនជំនួយ ភាសាដោយឥតគិតថ្លៃសម្រាប់អ្នកជំងឺ សមាជិកគ្រួសារ និងភ្ញៀវមកលេង ដែលនិយាយ ភាសា ក្រៅពីភាសាអង់គ្លេស ឬ ដែលថ្លង់ ឬ ត្រចៀកធ្ងន់។ ទូរសព្ទទៅលេខ 800-789-7366 (TTY: 215-662-4000)។
Frequently asked questions about language services and interpretation
We encourage you to bring your family members with you and have them involved in decisions concerning your care. However, Lancaster General Health has a policy regarding communication with limited English proficiency patients and deaf and hard of hearing patients. LG Health must use only qualified interpreters.
If you are scheduling appointments for tests or procedures, ask the scheduler to request an interpreter for your appointment. Please state your language preference.
Please contact your nurse, who will arrange interpretation services during your stay. If the patient is unable to make a request, a family member may contact the nurse to arrange interpretation services on his or her behalf.
For patients, family members or visitors who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, and who communicate primarily in ASL the organization provides Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) services in ASL, and/or contracted agency ASL interpreters.
Video Remote Interpretation or VRI uses video technology to provide interpreting services through a qualified remote interpreter who is not present in the same room as the other parties.
A member of our team of professional medical Spanish interpreters can help facilitate effective communication between you and your health care provider. We also have qualified bilingual personnel trained as medical interpreters to assist staff members with patients who need interpretation services in other languages. All our staff interpreters wear an orange badge, which will help you to identify them as qualified interpreters, and the language they speak.
Although we try our best to fulfill requests with an interpreter, it is not always possible due to external factors such as language, last minute requests, patients not showing up for pre-scheduled appointments, etc. Our staff will, after assessing patient’s communication needs, use our phone line that provides interpretation services in more than 150 different languages, and VRI services in several languages, including ASL and Spanish. Both services are available 24 hrs. 7 days a week.