Improving Community Health -- $7.4 million, supporting more than 279,000 people

Connections Between Cultures

Navigating the U.S. health care system is difficult enough for the average American. For a newly arrived refugee in St. Louis, the challenges are much more complex. They often arrive with little or no knowledge of the language, culture and practices of their new communities. For them, a trip to the hospital means facing complicated paperwork, strange machines and providers with whom they are unable to communicate.

Anna Vigdorchik knows what it’s like to be in their shoes.

In 1977, she came to St. Louis with her family as a refugee from Russia. At the time, she was in desperate need of aortic and mitral valve replacement, and was scheduled for open heart surgery at the former Jewish Hospital a month after arriving.

Vigdorchik didn’t speak a word of English, so the hospital found two women who spoke Russian. They were there throughout her medical journey from translating medical instructions, walking with her to the operating room to speaking to her doctors on her behalf when she had questions.

“It was amazing because I’ve never experienced anything like it in Russia,” says Vigdorchik. “The interpreters were with me every step of the way and helped me understand everything.”

Eager to give back to the hospital that helped save her life, Vigdorchik is now an interpreter and supervisor at Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s Refugee Health and Interpreter Service, a department that provides 24/7 case consultation, interpreter and translation services for any refugee patient seeking care at Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s Hospitals.

Thirty-three interpreters participated in nearly 36,000 encounters in 74 languages in 2007. Vigdorchik supervises a team of interpreters, all of whom accompany patients through various medical encounters: from regular doctor’s appointments, to surgical procedures and emergency room visits. “Interpreters really make a difference in helping refugees make sense of their health care experiences,” says Vigdorchik.

Not only do interpreters bridge the language and cultural gap between refugee patients and health providers, they serve as advocates for effective communication at every medical encounter.

While providing interpretation and translation services are a standard of care for major medical institutions, the Refugee Health and Interpreter Service participates in community outreach throughout St. Louis. Every month, it sends staff to the International Institute to provide “catch-up” immunizations for refugee children to ensure their timely enrollment in St. Louis schools. It also conducts educational programs for community interpreters working in health care and case management for schools and social services in the community.

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