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In any given month, University of Utah Health Care employees can hear 100 different languages spoken in the halls.
That's why it's so important that the system have vast translation services to serve patients who do not speak English.
"Health care is paramount," said Dustin Banks, who oversees the U.'s translation services. "We do everything we can to have effective communication."
Federal guidelines, known as Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services standards, requires health care providers to ensure services are correctly delivered to individuals of different cultures and languages.
There are 15 of these standards, which include offering free language assistance to people who are not proficient English speakers and informing individuals that such services exist.
To help providers comply with these standards, the state Department of Health released a report this week outlining the top languages spoken in Utah.
"The reports can help providers and health programs better understand their patient and client population, plan for language services, evaluate their current language services, and improve patient and client interactions," said Brittney Okada, a health program specialist in the department's Office of Health Disparities. "Effective and meaningful communication is essential to health services."
The report named English, Spanish, Chinese, German and Navajo as the top languages. In Salt Lake County, the top languages are English, Spanish, other Pacific Island languages, Chinese and Vietnamese, the report found.
Additionally, one in seven Utahns speaks a language at home that is not English, according to the 2010-2014 American Community Survey.
Banks said the U. actually sees a lot of Russian and Arabic speakers as well. But they are prepared for that, he said, because they have a pool of translators at their fingertips.
The system employs 12 Spanish interpreters, as well as two individuals who can translate documents, Banks said. Additionally, he said physicians and nurses can reach interpreters via video, over the phone or on an iPad in seconds, even if it is an emergency situation.
"We can connect any one of these languages in a matter of seconds, that way it doesn't delay health care," Banks said.
Intermountain Healthcare also has iPad services that offer 15 different languages, from Spanish to Vietnamese to Somali, at its various hospitals across the state. Spanish and American Sign Language are offered 24/7 and the rest are offered daily from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., according to an email from spokesman Jess Gomez.
These iPads typically are used for last-minute requests for interpreters, interpretation sessions that last fewer than 30 minutes and for when an on-site interpreter is not available.
"In the past five years, we've seen a significant increase in the number of patients who need language interpretation services," Gomez said. "We've increased interpretation resources to meet the demand and to ensure that all patients who need communication assistance have full access to those resources."
At the U., employees who speak a language other than English also can take a 40- to 60-hour course and take a proficiency exam in order to serve their patients in that language.
"With some of the harder to find languages, that is something that really is helpful," Banks said.
Twitter: @alexdstuckey —
Top languages in Utah
English is Utah's top language, but 366,502 people speak a different language in the home. Here are the top languages:
English • 2,187,829
Spanish • 245,945
Chinese • 11,451
German • 9,023
Navajo • 8,193
Top five languages in Salt Lake County:
English • 778,418
Spanish or Spanish Creole • 127,200
Other pacific island languages • 8,895
Chinese • 6,920
Vietnamese • 5,645