News

May 1, 2018

Holy Family Hospital offers Advanced Telephone Assistance for Spanish-Speaking Callers

Thanks to advanced technology and the expertise of Holy Family Hospital’s Interpreter Services team, callers whose first language is Spanish now have easier access to the hospital’s departments, programs, and services, in their own language, 24 hours a day.  

By calling the hospital’s main number, and following a few simple steps, Spanish-speaking callers are connected with interpreters who can answer their questions or assist.

Holy Family Hospital is among the first Steward Health Care hospitals to implement the new “Inbound Calling” system, and Steward Health Care hospitals are the only hospitals in Massachusetts currently implementing this, according to Carla Fogaren, RN, QMI, director of Diversity Initiatives and Interpreter Services, ADA/504 and Section 1557 coordinator for Steward Health Care.

“At Holy Family Hospital, this new system gives callers who speak Spanish the ability to call the hospital directly to schedule appointments, reschedule appointments, or check on loved ones,” says Fogaren.  “We have essentially eliminated one more barrier to access to care and information for the community. It also streamlines and enhances the service that our interpreters and switchboard operators can provide.”

For more information, contact Holy Family Hospital’s Interpreter Services at 781-375-3197.

Here’s how the new system works:
- From 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. on weekends/holidays: When dialing the main hospital number (978-687-0151) during normal business hours, callers now hear options to continue in English (option 1) or Spanish (option 2). When the caller presses 2, a recording in that language will ask the caller to enter their 10-digit phone number. This generates a request to the hospital’s interpreters through ServiceHub, the internal interpreter request service, to the interpreters’ iPads. They then return the call as soon as possible to help the caller in their own language. 
- After hours: Callers are instructed to press “2” for Spanish. The call then routes to a telephonic interpreter through the hospital’s vendor and connects directly to Holy Family’s switchboard operators. The vendor interpreter remains on the call and helps the caller.