{"id":7365,"date":"2019-06-14T12:59:21","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T16:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=7365"},"modified":"2023-02-15T10:47:27","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T15:47:27","slug":"trailblazer-santamaria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2019\/06\/14\/trailblazer-santamaria\/","title":{"rendered":"Trailblazer – A Beacon of Light for Non-English Speaking Patients"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImagine\nbeing sick in an unfamiliar environment and unable to speak or understand\nEnglish,\u201d says alumna Elena Santamaria. \u201cSuddenly, someone walks into your room\noffering a friendly greeting in Spanish and asking, \u2018How may I help you today?\u2019\nImmediately, they smile and you can see they feel safe and less anxious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santamaria confronted that situation many times throughout her career as a medical interpreter. She counts herself lucky for finding a profession that fueled her passion to serve others. In 2005, Santamaria had just moved to Savannah from Atlanta when she found a job as an administrative assistant at Memorial Health University Medical Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWord got out that I was a Spanish medical interpreter and\nstaff started calling me to help\nthem communicate with their patients and families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filling a Void<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Seeing the need for an interpretation services department at Memorial Health, Santamaria led\nefforts to establish one. She said having a qualified medical interpreter\nreduces errors, improves safety, increases patient satisfaction and it is their\nright. Historically, she noted about 87 percent of the foreign language\ninterpretation requests are for Spanish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the past 13-and-a-half years, it has been very rewarding to see how the department has grown and gained respect by an incredible staff of physicians, nurses and team members,\u201d she said. \u201cWe interpret everywhere in the hospital where there is a patient that does not speak English. From interpreting in the labor and delivery room witnessing a miracle in life, the birth of a baby, to the Intensive Care Unit for a critically ill patient facing an end of life situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santamaria added that the interpreters are compassionate\nand empathetic in their approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA great responsibility falls on our shoulders because\nthe words that we say are not our own, they are the provider\u2019s words and the\npatients\/families,\u201d she noted. \u201cWe tell the health care provider and the\npatient to look and speak to each other, not the interpreter, while allowing\nthe interpreter to transmit their words. We are just their voice, we are\ntransparent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year after establishing the interpretation services department, Santamaria implemented the Bilingual Volunteer Interpretation Services program. The volunteers support the \u201cmedical Spanish interpreters by interpreting non-medical and administrative encounters, allowing more time for the hospital interpreters to focus on medical interpretations,\u201d Santamaria explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Defining Moments<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Originally from Cuba, Santamaria was five years old when her parents moved to Miami. She gained her American citizenship, got married and raised a son and daughter. Her husband\u2019s career took them to different cities but she never forgot her goal to get a college degree. In her 40s, something happened that changed her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwice, I heard the words no one wants to hear, \u2018You have breast cancer.\u2019 It has been 19 years since I first heard the words and then again in 2016,\u201d Santamaria said. \u201cI am a two- time breast cancer survivor. The first time, I thought my life was over, but I have come to realize that having breast cancer was one of\nthe most empowering events of my life. Through adversity, I found strength.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After undergoing surgery and chemotherapy, Santamaria knew it was time to pursue \u201cthe dream of her youth.\u201d Divorced after 30 years, working full time and taking care of her 85-year-old mother, she enrolled at Armstrong despite the many obstacles. \u201cI thought, \u2018Will I feel lost; will I always be the oldest person in the class? What will they think of me? Will I be able to make good grades?\u2019 I remember having to take a tennis class. I won some of the matches and gained the respect and esteem of the students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Childhood Dream\nFulfilled<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At age 58, the non-traditional student earned her bachelor\u2019s in Spanish language and literature. Her children,  mother and grandchildren were in the audience cheering her on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat joy! What emotion! I had fulfilled my dream after 30 years,\u201d she said. \u201cI know that I leave my grandchildren a good lesson. Age is not important. It is never too late when something is worth the wait.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though she retired in February,\nSantamaria continues to support the cause that is dear to her heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She works with the American Cancer Society\n\u201ccalling Latina women all over the\ncountry who are going through\nthe treatments and giving them\nhope and encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She co-authored the book, B.O.O.B.S.: A Bunch of Outrageous Breast-cancer Survivors<\/em>, in which nine other women share their personal experiences from diagnosis to surgery and beyond. As a supporter of the Komen Race for the Cure, the Armstrong alumna has vowed to continue to walk until a cure for breast cancer is found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope and pray that\nin my lifetime, we will find a cure\nso that our daughters and granddaughters do not have to live in fear of hearing the words, \u2018You have\nbreast cancer,\u2019\u201d said the grandmother of four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that she has plenty of free time, Santamaria is\nmaking plans to keep busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am praying that the Lord will guide me into the next exciting chapter in my life\u201d  she said. \u201cI want to do volunteer work in   the community, work PRN (as needed) as a Spanish medical interpreter, travel, do more Zumba, ballroom dancing and enjoy my beautiful grandchildren before they go off to college.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Sandra Bennett<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cImagine being sick in an unfamiliar environment and unable to speak or understand English,\u201d says alumna Elena Santamaria. \u201cSuddenly, someone walks into your room offering a friendly greeting in Spanish and asking, \u2018How may I help you today?\u2019 Immediately, they smile and you can see they feel safe and less anxious.\u201d Santamaria confronted that situation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":7368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-7365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-spring-2019"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}