Increase in diversity of nation’s patient population.

During 2006, the number of languages needed to communicate with patients at U.S. hospitals grew to 143, an increase of eight percent in one year, according to CyraCom. Its proprietary database, drawn from nearly 1,000 hospitals and health care facilities, shows a rise of 57 percent since 2000.

Arabic moved from fifth to fourth place in numbers of requests for over- the-phone interpretation by the end of third quarter 2006, but dropped back to fifth by the end of the year. Others in the top five, following Spanish as the most requested, were Russian, Vietnamese and Korean.

Citing the CyraCom Language Index as the source of information, company CEO Michael Greenbaum noted that the Midwest and South had the biggest regional changes. Within these regions, Michigan and Alabama had the greatest increases in the diversity, or number, of languages needed.

“Marked year-to- year shifts mean increased challenges to our nation’s hospitals as they cope with providing quality patient care,” he continued. “Preparing to serve the rapidly changing influx of patients is a continuous reality today.”

New York continues to lead the nation in the number of languages needed in its hospitals with 121 used in 2006. New York’s languages differ from the nation as a whole. Polish and French are needed among its top five rather than Vietnamese and Korean.

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