I was denied an interpreter at a hospital!

On May 18, 2009, around 12:00pm I went to a hospital because of a back injury. I was with a friend, who was there to wait with me and make sure that the incident that caused the injury was recounted properly since she was there when it happened.

We got there, filled out the initial patient information form and I handed it in and went to sit an wait. During this time my friend was calling the emergency after-hours interpreter number to get a terp for me. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact one, she finally got through to an operator. At the time she called there were no interpreters available. Shortly after that the triage nurse called my name. My friend and I were communicating in American Sign Language (ASL) and I was not aware of the nurse calling my name. Soon a nurse came and told me was her turn.

I entered the triage area and the nurse began speaking to me in English. I gestured to show that I am deaf and the nurse continued to speak. I then gestured that the nurse should write and she wrote “how old are you?” I responded in writing, and the nurse began to speak to me once again. I then firmly pointed to the pencil and paper to make sure the nurse understood that she must write. The nurse finished taking my history through writing notes back and forth and then told me to go to registration. I gave the person at the registration desk my health card and showed her a note that I had typed into my blackberry saying “I need an ASL interpreter”. The woman at registration smiled and gave me a “thumbs-up” and gestured for my friend and I to go sit down.


My friend and I sat in the waiting area for a few minutes and continued to communicate with each other through American Sign Language. When it was time for me to enter the patient care area the woman from registration called my name. My friend made me aware of this, but since I was the patient I expected direct communication unless there was already an ASL-English interpreter there. The woman from registration continued to call my name and then started to ring the bell at the desk to get my attention. She then proceeded to bang on the desk and slowly come around the desk, continuing to call my name and bang on things. Eventually she entered my peripheral vision and was able to get my attention and gesture it was time to enter the patient care area. I showed the woman the note saying “I need an ASL interpreter” once again before entering.

Me and my friend entered the patient care area and once again showed the woman from registration the note asking for an interpreter. The woman from registration then told two nurses at the nurses station that I needed an interpreter. The triage nurse then exclaimed that I did not need an interpreter because they had I could write and read and the entire history had been completed that way. I then showed the triage nurse the note requesting an interpreter and once again the nurse said no and refused to get one.

At this point the triage nurse walked away and began to discuss me and exclaim that I did not need an interpreter with another nurse in a public area, showing no respect for me. The triage nurse then came back and asked me for a urine sample through spoken English. When I did not respond the nurse then wrote a note explaining what that she needed a urine sample and how to do it. I showed the triage nurse the note asking for an interpreter one last time. The nurse then spoke to me once again exclaiming that I did not need an interpreter.

My friend then recognized that the triage nurse was going to continue to ignore my request for an interpreter and then explained in spoken English (with my permission) explained that I needed an interpreter and that the hospital had a legal responsibility to provide one. The three nurses that were there continued to argue that this was not the case and they did not have to because I could write and read. My friend continued to explain that if I were to be a Chinese, Portuguese, or Italian patient the hospital would provide an interpreter and that this was the same situation. When the nurses continued to refuse to call an interpreter my friend then asked for a pen and wrote down the name and number for Ontario Interpreter Services which the nurses ignored.

A nurse then came around to the outside of the desk with a mask covering her mouth and nose asking who spoke and understood English. My friend said that she did and then nurse told her to “tell your friend to go sit down”. My friend refused and told the nurse to ask me herself and I gestured for communication to be direct and wrote a note on paper saying that my friend was not an interpreter.

Then nurse then turned to me, with the mask still covering her face, and began to ask me if I understood her. My friend then told the nurse that I could not lip read the nurse when the mask was covering her face. Once again the nurse told my friend to “tell your friend to go sit down”. My friend then asked the nurse what she would do if she were not there, to which the nurse responded that she did not like my friends attitude. A nurse also said that if my friend were not there that I would not be either. My friend continued to explain that I had a legal right to an interpreter and that the hospital was responsible to hire one. The nurses all said that they were not responsible to “hire” anyone because they were nurses.

At this point I decided that I should go to a different hospital and asked my friend to interpret a few things for me. I commented that I could not access medical services at the hospital without proper communication, and that English was not my first language. Then I said I was going to leave and go to another hospital. By this point the nurses had called security and they arrived as me and my friend were leaving. The nurses said that other hospitals would not serve me with the attitude that we had.

We then went to another hospital and along with the service of a professional ASL-English Interpreter I received medical care and treatment.