Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
KGBT 4 - TV Harlingen, TX: Deaf Woman Claims Hospital Violated Her Rights
Gabriela Gutierrez is sharing what she considers the worst experience of her life.
Gutierrez is deaf, she can't speak or hear. In telling her story to Action 4 News, she used her good friend and interpreter, Carol Linan.
"The doctor said they couldn't get me an interpreter and I was very upset," said Gutierrez.
She was referring to an incident which occurred last Saturday at the Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen Emergency Room.
Gutierrez says her daughter, Amanda Garcia, was experiencing so much pain in her abdominal area, she rushed her to the hospital.
Once there, the problems began, says Gutierrez.
"The doctor said ‘She's going to need surgery. It's an emergency,' recalled Gutierrez. "I thought to myself ‘I need an interpreter. We tried writing back and forth but some of the words were really difficult. I didn't understand what they were talking about."
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act- a handicapped person should be provided with an interpreter in case they need to communicate with doctors and nurses.
Through signs and gestures, Gutierrez says she was barely able to understand her daughter needed surgery. But Gutierrez claims she still didn't know why the surgery was needed.
Turns out, Amanda had appendicitis, a dangerous condition if not treated in a timely manner.
She says she insisted for an interpreter but the E.R. staff told her this: "Just read, you can read. We don't need an interpreter. No excuses, you don't need an interpreter."
But Gutierrez says she was desperate to find out what was happening to Amanda.
Gutierrez' sister, Norma Gonzalez, was there too.
"I speak the alphabet (in sign language). If I could have helped her understand, I would have," she said.
Meanwhile, the women say Amanda's pain was getting worse.
"I was feeling really upset and impatient," Amanda remembered.
Hours later, the women say Amanda was finally admitted, although there was still no interpreter there.
"I was crying, I was in tears because it was so hard," Gutierrez said.
At around one in the morning, Gutierrez left her daughter in the emergency room and drove to Linan's house, woke her up and asked her to go to the hospital.
"I was surprised they didn't provide an interpreter," Linan said.
Glad that Amanda was finally treated, the family says nobody should have to go through this.
Action 4 news scheduled an interview with a Valley Baptist Spokeswoman about this particular incident Friday at noon.
But a few hours before the scheduled meeting, the interview was cancelled.
Instead, we received a statement from Valley Baptist saying the following: "Our goal is to deliver the best medical care and service possible and view all concerns with our service as opportunities to continue improvements."
Gutierrez says the hospital finally got an interpreter to show up the next morning.
According to a deaf interpreter services web site, American sign language is a distinct and unique language with its own grammar and syntax.
Unless the deaf person has an extremely good understanding of the English language, writing notes in English would have little benefit.
It could be compared to writing notes in English to a Spanish speaking person.
For more information go to: Deaf Interpreter Services Inc.
Gabriela Gutierrez is sharing what she considers the worst experience of her life.
Gutierrez is deaf, she can't speak or hear. In telling her story to Action 4 News, she used her good friend and interpreter, Carol Linan.
"The doctor said they couldn't get me an interpreter and I was very upset," said Gutierrez.
She was referring to an incident which occurred last Saturday at the Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen Emergency Room.
Gutierrez says her daughter, Amanda Garcia, was experiencing so much pain in her abdominal area, she rushed her to the hospital.
Once there, the problems began, says Gutierrez.
"The doctor said ‘She's going to need surgery. It's an emergency,' recalled Gutierrez. "I thought to myself ‘I need an interpreter. We tried writing back and forth but some of the words were really difficult. I didn't understand what they were talking about."
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act- a handicapped person should be provided with an interpreter in case they need to communicate with doctors and nurses.
Through signs and gestures, Gutierrez says she was barely able to understand her daughter needed surgery. But Gutierrez claims she still didn't know why the surgery was needed.
Turns out, Amanda had appendicitis, a dangerous condition if not treated in a timely manner.
She says she insisted for an interpreter but the E.R. staff told her this: "Just read, you can read. We don't need an interpreter. No excuses, you don't need an interpreter."
But Gutierrez says she was desperate to find out what was happening to Amanda.
Gutierrez' sister, Norma Gonzalez, was there too.
"I speak the alphabet (in sign language). If I could have helped her understand, I would have," she said.
Meanwhile, the women say Amanda's pain was getting worse.
"I was feeling really upset and impatient," Amanda remembered.
Hours later, the women say Amanda was finally admitted, although there was still no interpreter there.
"I was crying, I was in tears because it was so hard," Gutierrez said.
At around one in the morning, Gutierrez left her daughter in the emergency room and drove to Linan's house, woke her up and asked her to go to the hospital.
"I was surprised they didn't provide an interpreter," Linan said.
Glad that Amanda was finally treated, the family says nobody should have to go through this.
Action 4 news scheduled an interview with a Valley Baptist Spokeswoman about this particular incident Friday at noon.
But a few hours before the scheduled meeting, the interview was cancelled.
Instead, we received a statement from Valley Baptist saying the following: "Our goal is to deliver the best medical care and service possible and view all concerns with our service as opportunities to continue improvements."
Gutierrez says the hospital finally got an interpreter to show up the next morning.
According to a deaf interpreter services web site, American sign language is a distinct and unique language with its own grammar and syntax.
Unless the deaf person has an extremely good understanding of the English language, writing notes in English would have little benefit.
It could be compared to writing notes in English to a Spanish speaking person.
For more information go to: Deaf Interpreter Services Inc.
