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Latino health care in city gets $87,000 boost
LAMBERTVILLE — Efforts to provide adequate health care to local Latinos received a large boost Monday morning when New Jersey Rep. Rush Holt, D-12th, contributed an $87,000 federal grant to the project.
The program, called the Lambertville Latino Health Care Initiative, is run by the Phillips-Barber Family Health Center, a family practice satellite of Hunterdon Medical Center on Alexander Avenue.
The initiative began in 2005 to address the health-care needs of a growing Latino community. It since has provided translators and educational outreach programs for Spanish-speaking patients.
”The Hunterdon Medical Center understands that it’s a big county, and it’s a diverse county,” Rep. Holt said. “There is a particular responsibility to look after the needs of people of all walks of life.”
The grant money, which came from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, will help Phillips-Barber serve its growing number of Latino patients. The office has seen the number of Spanish-speaking patients rise between 25 and 30 percent since 2005, according to Dr. Terry Shlimbaum, medical director.
”The population is increasing dramatically, and we have been bursting at the seams with patients and providing access to the Latino population,” Dr. Shlimbaum said. “We are so pleased to be able to round out our efforts to be a full-service office.”
The increase in Latino patients has mirrored an increase in Lambertville’s Latino community. The latest census results show Hispanics make up more than 10 percent of the town’s population, which, according to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Census, is 3,840.
Hunterdon County as a whole also has experienced an increase and now is home to more than 4,500 Latino residents, said Robert Wise, president and CEO of Hunterdon Medical Center.
”As a community hospital, our mission is really to reach out to the growing population and make sure we facilitate their health needs,” Mr. Wise said.
That is the goal behind the Lambertville Latino Health Care Initiative. Mr. Wise said it was formed when people began to recognize the difficulties Latinos faced as they navigated the health-care system.
He listed five particular things the community lacked: translation services, knowledge of available services, health-care agencies, primary physicians and health insurance.
The initiative’s efforts to alleviate these problems will be bolstered by the new grant. Dr. Shlimbaum said the money will fund more educational group sessions in Spanish and more translating.
Phillips-Barber currently relies on one translator, Maria Montano, the Hunterdon Healthcare System outreach coordinator, and the office must share her with the rest of the Hunterdon Healthcare system. She currently is at Phillips-Barber three days a week and can work with up to 10 patients a day.
The grant will allow for the hiring of a full-time Latino outreach coordinator to work with Spanish-speaking patients. In addition, the money will be used to translate consent forms and educational handouts into Spanish.
Ms. Montano said having a translator present is very important for Latino residents. As a translator, she works from both sides, making sure doctors understand a patient’s symptoms and medical history and patients understand their diagnoses and prescriptions.
”The role of the interpreter is ultimately to try to make sure the physicians and patients are communicating,” Ms. Montano said. “That’s my goal.”
A translator also can help doctors understand cultural differences, Ms. Montano added. Latino patients sometimes prefer herbs over medicines or attribute their children’s sicknesses to superstitious causes. Ms. Montano ensures physicians understand these issues.
Hunterdon Medical Center also has implemented other programs aimed at reaching the Latino community, a list that includes the Latino Prenatal Health Literacy Initiative and Latino Diabetes and Nutritional Education Program.
Mr. Wise said these types of Latino outreach programs are good for the whole community and applauded Rep. Holt for securing the new grant.
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