U.S. Hospitals Face Increasing Language Needs Challenge.

Language needs in U.S. hospitals and health care facilities reflect enormous upward trends in the country’s diversity. In 2005, the 132 different languages requested at medical facilities nationwide represented a leap of more than 45 percent since 2000, according to statistics from CyraCom, the country’s largest language services company focused on health care.

Data analyzed by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) indicates that more than 35 million immigrants make the United States their home, accounting for just over 12 percent of the nation’s total population — the closest that figure has gotten to the 14.7 percent record set during the 1910 immigration wave.

CyraCom reports that Spanish is the most needed language in the more than 800 hospitals the company serves nationwide, with the other top languages in 2005 ranked as Russian, Vietnamese, Korean and Arabic, respectively. The company noted this is the first time Arabic has appeared in the top five.

CyraCom says that while Russian and Vietnamese are regularly in the top three along with Spanish, other language needs have varied from year to year. The data illustrates the influx of immigrants from many different countries.

For example, Mandarin and Polish were among the top five language needs in 2003 and 2004.

“Our nation’s public institutions are struggling to cope with this rapidly-increasing diversity,” said CyraCom CEO Michael D. Greenbaum. “One of the biggest challenges at hospitals is that literally dozens and dozens of languages may be needed at any time day or night. This can present obvious problems in situations where seconds count in the delivery of effective patient care.”

The CIS report shows that eight million new immigrants have entered the country since 2000, and 19 percent of all school-age children in the country have an immigrant mother. California leads the U.S. with the largest percentage increase of immigrants, followed by Texas, Georgia, New Jersey and Maryland.

Some states such as California, New York and Illinois have experienced growth of 100 percent or more in the number of languages needed in their hospitals through mid-decade.

California’s nearly 10 million immigrants account for almost 28 percent of the state’s total population, and CyraCom statistics show that the 108 languages requested in its California medical facilities represented a leap of more than 100 percent since 2000. Spanish is the most requested language in California, where almost half of the state’s school-age children have immigrant mothers. The other most requested languages in the state’s hospitals served by CyraCom are Vietnamese, Korean, Russian and Cantonese.

Approximately 950,000 new immigrants have entered New York since 2000.

Nearly four million immigrants now account for just over 20 percent of the state’s population, and 30 percent of the state’s school-age children have immigrant mothers. CyraCom says Spanish is the most needed language in New York hospitals, where language needs have increased by 50 percent since 2000.

Polish, French, Russian and Arabic make up the other top languages requested in New York state hospitals served by CyraCom.

Illinois saw language requests jump more than 145 percent since 2001, and approximately 285,000 new immigrants have come to Illinois since 2000. A total of 1.4 million immigrants in Illinois represent just over 11 percent of the state’s total population. Spanish is the most requested language in Illinois hospitals, followed by Cantonese, Polish, Chinese and Russian, respectively, CyraCom’s data shows.

For more information at http://www.cyracom.com