Translation Services

Language and Translation Services

When it comes to your health, communication is key. So if you do not speak the same language as your health care providers, or if you are not comfortable speaking or understanding English, Mount Sinai South Nassau has put together an experienced team of language and translation experts. We also provide services for those with sight or hearing limitations. Our experienced staff are trained and tested to ensure accurate and complete medical interpretations. We offer this service 24 hours a day, every day of the week, throughout the hospital. And our services are free.

Our dedicated staff helps people understand conversations you might have with your medical team, as well as written forms and documents. We offer interpretation in person with your providers, as well as over the phone and through video chat.

Our Expertise

Mount Sinai South Nassau’s team includes “dual-role” interpreters, which means they help your providers understand your questions and comments, and also help you understand their questions and comments.  

We provide translation and interpretations services for:

• Patients and loved ones who are hearing impaired. Services include:

• Adjustable volume controls on all hospital phones, plus TDD and TYY phone communications
• Close-captioned televisions in all patient rooms
• American Sign Language interpreters throughout the hospital and at our off-site clinics

• Those who have vision problems. Services include:

• Large-print documents
  
• Braille documents
  
• Audio (sound) versions of instructions both before your hospital stay and for discharge

• Patients who speak any one of over 170 languages, including:

• American Sign Language
  
• Haitian Creole
  
• Mandarin
  
• Polish 
  
• Russian
  
• Spanish (We also offer printed medical forms and patient education materials in Spanish, and a Spanish language educational television channel in patient rooms.)

• Anyone who would like forms, educational materials or medical records printed in a specific language. If you or a loved one would like this service, let us know. We will try to meet all requests.

In addition, we provide regular education for our staff and volunteers, to help them better understand different cultures and religious beliefs, and even to learn a new language. In this way, we can better help our patients and their loved ones with our excellent healthcare services.

Contact Us

Direct line to our Language Coordinator: (516) 632-3000, ext. 3484
If you’re in the hospital, ask the staff in the nursing unit or department for an interpreter.
If you’re visiting one of our off-site clinics or offices and would like an American Sign Language interpreter, just let us know five business days in advance so we can arrange a video-chat.