TEANECK, N.J. — With an increasingly diverse population, hospitals in northern N.J. are beginning to change everything from décor and food to disease screenings to help patients feel comfortable.
Holy Name Medical Center is one such hospital, according to the Record.
The hospital is catering to its fast-growing Korean population by implementing a program to screen and treat diseases that affect their demographic more strongly, such as liver disease and breast cancer.
Korean physicians, Korean-speaking employees and volunteers in touch with Korean culture also train non-Korean workers.
Now Holy Name employees will always address Korean patients by their last name as to not appear rude and not write their names in red ink because it signifies death in Korean registrars. Lukewarm drinks are also given in place of cold ones, as some Asian cultures believe ice water can be shocking to one’s system.
Administrative Director Kyung Hee Choi told the Record that with the program, the hospital has seen an increase in patient admittance.
“We are continuing to increase our patient admissions and we’re the no. 1 hospital for the Korean population,” Choi told the Record.
The hospital has also enforced other policies, like doing bloodless surgeries — without using blood transfusions — for emergencies when treating Jehovah’s Witnesses.
For Jewish patients, the hospital erected temporary sukkahs, tent-like structures used during the holiday of Sukkot.
The most difficult barrier for Holy Name and other area hospitals is language, as 72 different ones are spoken among patients.
Some N.J. hospitals now employ outside translation and interpreter services on calls between physicians and patients.