Wednesday, August 10, 2016

University of Utah South Main Clinic: Racist hostile discrimination

Racist retaliatory treatment by the University of Utah, within a Salt Lake County facility.

The University of Utah South Main Clinic offers in person interpretation services for Spanish speakers. But if you speak another language or are from a non-Spanish country, you're out of luck.

The managers of the clinic are racist. The University of Utah is racist.

Most clinics of the University provide in person interpreters at no cost to patients, as is required by federal law.

But the South Main clinic only provides in person interpreters at no cost to patients if they speak Spanish.

They claim that over the phone is "just as good" as in person. But this is a lie. Over the phone interpretation creates more barriers, is more clunky to use, tends to negatively impact the experience of dealing with the provider in the room, and so on. "In person" is just better, better for us.

Their managers refused to listen to us. They refused to provide the name of their medical director. They run the clinic like a little fiefdom. A private little dictatorship. And they will engage in petty retaliation against anyone who complains or who raises their head.

Racist Whack-A-Mole is what they do de facto.

South Main Clinic, 3690 Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84115 - Midwives for adults & teens; Teen mothers; Pediatrics - all University of Utah providers. But if you go there, you only get "top service" if you speak Spanish. Otherwise you're sorry out of luck. And they don't care about what you have to say, period.

They decide. You can either choose to live with their dictates, or go elsewhere.

Racist hostile treatment.

Clinic manager, "public servant" (in name only, not in deed), a Jeremy Egusquiza, is a racist in our view.

Do Spanish ancestry people hate Asians?

At the South Main Clinic, they do, de facto - by their actions at least, and that's what counts.

Racist treatment is racist treatment.

Additional key details:

1. University managers and staff promised to honor our interpretation preferences.

2. University managers and staff stated we would receive as a first preference an in person interpreter at the South Main Clinic.

3. In response to a complaint about a lack of an interpreter invite by schedulers for one visit, the manager of the South Main Clinic choose to illegally retaliate (illegal in more ways than one), and to pettily shut off our access to in person interpretation at that clinic. The actions of Jeremy Egusquiza were a de facto booting of my wife who is about to have a baby any day now. Petty. Shallow. Slimy. Racist. Retaliatory. And illegal in our view.

4. "They look down on Asian people." That's what my wife shared with me yesterday as we were sitting in a room at South Main waiting to see our preferred midwife.

5. On 5-18-2016 Leissa Roberts, Associate Dean for Factulty Practice with the College of Nursing, promised in writing "Your translator preference is noted in your wife's chart and we will continue to use the services you prefer in an effort to provide the best care possible."

6. On 8-9-2016 Leissa Roberts reneged on her promise, and stated "we will be unable to meet your request to have in person interpretation" at the South Main clinic.

7. On 7-20-2016 Melanie Wolcott stated "I have shared with management at South Main Clinic that the expectation is to have Catherine at all your visits--not phone translation services if at all possible."

8. On 8-5-2016 Melanie Wolcott responded to a complaint I sent about a lack-of-invite for an interpreter for one particular South Main clinic visit. She then stated: "I have passed this on to the clinic manager. You should hear back early next week about this."

9. However next on 8-10 Melanie Wolcott passes along the retaliatory response from the South Main clinic managers, via stating that the: "...South Main Clinic will not be able to provide in person translation services at the clinic."

10. Hostile treatment is hostile treatment.

11. Racist treatment is racist treatment.

12. A de facto booting is a de facto booting.

13. The tone & content of the response offered by Jeremy Egusquiza is outrageous. The man refused to share with me the name of the medical director for the South Main Clinic, a Wendy Hobson-Rohrer. I reminded him that he is a public servant and that the University is a public institution - and that as such he is required to provide such info when requested. He refused.

14. Our experience of being at the butt end of racist retaliation at the hands of University staff is being shared with Asian advocacy groups and people within Utah. We are letting people know that the South Main Clinic is not a welcoming place for anyone who doesn't speak Spanish.

15. Again, it is particularly slimy to treat a pregnant woman in this way who is about to have a baby. Two children at the University hospital. Thousands of dollars. Mr. Egusquiza doesn't care. He doesn't know what went on at Heartland, nor does he care. He gets to decide, like the king of his own little fiefdom. He gets to dictate what happens, everything else be damned. He get to retaliate in a racist manner against my wife. And the College of Nursing also gets to renege on the promise they made on 5-18 where they stated "Your translator preference is noted in your wife's chart and we will continue to use the services you prefer in an effort to provide the best care possible." All these people get to do this - unless you choose to change your mind. Is this possible? Can you honor your promises? Can you honor the law? Can you provide equal and equitable levels of service in this regard across the University Health System?

16. We like the midwives themselves. Usually kind women who are more than willing to help. But in the case of the the South Main Clinic, they are operating within an environment which is hostile to patient care. If we received in person interpretation at Heartland all while Heartland was open (2+ years), then we should be able to receive it at South Main (as per the midwife practice transfer from Heartland to South Main). This would be "equal treatment across the system." But this is only one reason to provide in person interpreters at South Main. Another is providing equal treatment for all races. If you provide in person interpretation for Spanish, then you must provide in-person for all. Another are the College of Nursing promises made to us in writing about honoring our interpretation preferences (5-18-16 and 7-20-16). And another is just common decency and proper treatment of a pregnant woman. If South Main started providing in person interpretation, then they cannot just unilaterally decide to cut us off. They have cut us off, and their treatment of my family is a de facto boot, plus it's also a de facto invite to leave the University system altogether. But other clinics at the University have been willing to provide a higher level of service, one which meets our needs interpretation wise. Yes sometimes an in person person is not available and we understand. Sometimes there's kinks in the system which need to be identified which he have helped with, and the past kinks have mostly been fixed (interpretation wise, for my wife's care). All other clinics try and get an in person interpreter. They try, and that's all we ask really.

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August 2017 addendum:

2 comments:

  1. Hi Jonathan. I was researching university of Utah discrimination on the internet and came across your we this article on your blog. I would love to communicate with you in private message about your experience as I am going through something similar. Please email me at asmilingbeauty@gmail.com. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Jonathan. I was researching university of Utah discrimination on the internet and came across your we this article on your blog. I would love to communicate with you in private message about your experience as I am going through something similar. Please email me at asmilingbeauty@gmail.com. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete