Language Services
St. Joseph’s Health complies with all applicable Federal & State civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, sex or gender identity. Interpreter services and auxiliary aids are available throughout St. Joseph’s Health for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, visually impaired or who are limited English proficient (LEP). These services are available 24 hours a day – every day. If you or your companion need these free services please inform a member of your care team.
In maintaining compliance with the American with Disabilities Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), St. Joseph’s Health Hospital provides auxiliary aids and services to patients with disabilities, including American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter services for patients with hearing disabilities, to ensure effective communication and equal opportunity to participate. When a patient or companion requires an ASL interpreter, or other auxiliary aids or services, the Hospital will provide a qualified ASL interpreter who can interpret medical terms, or other appropriate auxiliary aids or services including written information in other formats (multiple languages, large print, audio, accessible electronic formats), free of charge to the patient.
Trained medical interpreters may be accessed by your health care provider at any of our network sites. St. Joseph’s provides a telephonic interpreter service of more than 206 languages and dialects to accommodate the needs of Limited English Proficient patients. In addition, a Video Remote Interpretation (VRI) laptop is available for ASL and other languages.
Vital documents are translated into multiple languages.
The point of contact for patients and/or their companions for information regarding effective communication is: Office of Patient Experience, Section 1557 Coordinator of Interpreter Services 315-448-5559.
If you believe that our health care facility has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, sex or gender identity, you can file a grievance with:
Patient Relations: Office of Patient Experience
301 Prospect Avenue
Syracuse, New York 13203
Phone: 315-448-5559 / Fax: 315-744-1412
Email: patient.relations@sjhsyr.org
You can file a grievance in person or by mail, fax or email. If you need help filing a grievance, Patient Relations is available to help you.
You can also file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf or by mail or phone at:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue SW
Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington, DC 20201
Phone: 1-800-868-1019 or 1-800-537-7697 (TDD)
Complaint forms are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html
