GEORGETOWN, Del. - La Red Health Center is actively seeking Spanish-speaking bilingual employees to serve its diverse patient base better in Sussex County, where it provides care to approximately 14,000 individuals, half Latino.
Marina Díaz Roblero's experience underscores the critical need for such staff. After moving from Guatemala to Sussex County in 2004, Díaz Roblero encountered significant obstacles at a local doctor's office due to a language barrier.
"I got there looking for a nurse, a doctor, but they didn't understand me," Díaz Roblero said. "I couldn't explain myself… and they said, 'Sit down, and we'll find someone who speaks Spanish, but it will be by phone,' and I waited three hours."
La Red Health Center, established in 2001, is intensifying its efforts to recruit more bilingual employees to address these challenges.
"Having bilingual staff, it's a part of who La Red is, and it's also part of our culture, so it's we really do try to find candidates and try to attract candidates that are bilingual for the community and to be able to do what we do," Doreen Rushton, director of human resources at La Red Health Center, said.
Sandra Soto, the office coordinator at the Georgetown facility, has seen firsthand the difference that bilingual staff can make. Working at the reception desk for nearly three years, Soto finds it rewarding to assist Spanish-speaking patients.
"The majority of our patients are speaking Spanish, and it feels great to be able to help people that sometimes don't even know how to write their own name, help them out, fill out the applications and all that," Soto said.
The language barrier has directly affected patients like Díaz Roblero, who opted not to see another doctor due to communication fears.
"For what was happening to me, they were sending me to another place, and I asked if they spoke Spanish, they said no, and then I said, better not because I can't explain myself," Díaz Roblero said.
La Red Health Center reports that approximately 54 percent of its staff are bilingual. The center also employs about nine interpreters across its three facilities in Georgetown, Millsboro, and Seaford, in addition to partnerships with language lines.
Please visit this website for information on open positions at La Red Health Center.
