Guatemala RPCV Jamie Zentner interprets at La Clinica
Read and comment on this story from the Wausau Daily Herald about Guatemala RPCV Jamie Zentner who interprets at La Clinica in Wausau Wisconsin. The language barrier is the biggest challenge. Marshfield Clinic Spanish interpreter Jamie Zentner tries to see every patient at the clinic. She worked for the Peace Corps in Guatemala for two years and understands the Hispanic culture. Read the story at:
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Colby/Abbotsford clinic caters to Spanish-speaking patients
By Amy E. Bowen Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
There wasn't an empty seat in the Marshfield Clinic's Colby/Abbotsford Center on a warm Wednesday night. Children played with toys in a corner as their parents chatted in Spanish.
Melina Kolbeck, Spanish services coordinator at Marshfield Clinic, was busy that night. Patients kept asking her questions in Spanish. To many, she is the lifeline to the English-speaking world, and LaClinica, a weekly clinic, is their only hope to effectively communicate with medical personnel.
This year, Marshfield Clinic opened LaClinica, a clinic for the Spanish-speaking population in central Wisconsin. With the help of interpreters, Dr. Jim Schumaker and his medical staff see an average of six to eight Spanish-speaking patients a night.
Manuela Valdez of Athens brought in her two children, Bernice, 3, and Luis, 18 months, for checkups Wednesday.
"There's a lot of people who don't understand, and now there's someone to help them," Valdez said.
Colby, Curtiss and Abbotsford have large Spanish-speaking populations, and many of them work at the nearby Abbyland Meats or on farms. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Clark County had 404 Hispanic residents, compared with 116 in 1990. Curtiss has the highest percentage of Hispanic population in the state, according the U.S. Census.
"I saw a need for providing increased service," Schumaker said. "I was seeing two or three a day, and because of the language barrier, I would have benefited from an interpreter's services."
The language barrier is the biggest challenge. Marshfield Clinic Spanish interpreter Jamie Zentner tries to see every patient at the clinic. She worked for the Peace Corps in Guatemala for two years and understands the Hispanic culture.
"It's hard for people around here to understand what it's like not to understand your doctor," Zentner said. "You feel helpless."
Access is another key issue, Schumaker said. Mexican workers tend to have less flexibility to get away from work obligations, and cannot visit the doctor during daytime hours, he said.
Valdez works on an Athens farm, and can't make appointments during office hours. The evening hours are helpful, she said. If Valdez needs to see a doctor during the day, she has to take the day off.
Most patients are young women and children, and many need family planning services and pregnancy care, Schumaker said. The clinic also conducts well-baby exams and gives routine vaccinations.
"The original population was just young men," Schumaker said. "But over time, they bring their girlfriends or spouses and create a family." Many from Mexico don't understand how U.S. insurance works, organizers said. Kolbeck, who is from Mexico, explains it. But there's little help for illegal immigrants who do not carry insurance. Medicaid only applies to legal citizens and children born in the United States.
Currently, Kolbeck works with 100 families, and she expects that number will keep growing. Most of her patients are below the poverty level.
To help with the increased demand, Schumaker hopes to create a Hispanic care coordinator position at the Colby/Abbotsford center. "My thought is that we're going to see more Mexican workers come to the area," Schumaker said. "I guess we'll have to work with employer groups or state programs to address the health insurance coverage." Amy E. Bowen can be reached at 1-715-384-3131 or 1-800-967-2087, ext. 333, or at amy.bowen@cwnews.net
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