Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, CentraCare announce improvements to reach Deaf community

Media Advisory: (St. Cloud, Minn.) — CentraCare is promising an improved experience for deaf and hard-of-hearing patients who use the health care provider’s Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) system. Some changes have already been made with more improvements underway.

Media are invited to hear from representatives of both the Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid and CentraCare about the collaborative effort between the organizations to address previous shortcomings of VRI. VRI relies on American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation.

DATE: Monday, Jan. 27
TIME: 7:15 p.m.
LOCATION: CentraCare Southpoint, 3001 Clearwater Rd., St. Cloud, MN 56301
SPEAKERS:
Santo Cruz, Attorney, CentraCare
Sonja Peterson, Attorney, Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid
Rick Macpherson Attorney (ret.), Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid
ASL Interpretation will be provided.

Members of the Deaf community are invited and clients of Legal Aid will be on hand.

“With VRI, our clients expected to make a crucial health care connection to an ASL interpreter who could convey their medical concerns to their provider at CentraCare. They came to us in 2017, telling us that wasn’t happening consistently,” said MDLC Attorney Sonja Peterson. “Since that time, we’ve investigated and found the ASL interpreter was often slow to show or never showed.”

Other findings included focus on low bandwidth which threatened strength of the connection. In some cases, it blurred the picture. This meant patients could not clearly see the ASL being signed by the interpreter. These challenges with the ASL interpreter system were impacting the deaf and hard of hearing community. Added Peterson, “Our clients are optimistic that CentraCare’s improvements will make communication between people who are deaf and medical staff more effective.”

“CentraCare is dedicated to ensuring full and equal access to health care services for patients and companions who are deaf. We entered into a voluntary resolution plan with MDLC and are pleased with the process and the outcome,” said CentraCare Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Santo Cruz. “Together with the MDLC, we selected an independent expert to evaluate, review and recommend solutions and improvements within the system. Although hampered by COVID and other factors, when the process continued in 2023 and 2024, we were further pleased our evaluator was accompanied by members of the Deaf Community.”

As a result of the independent expert evaluation, CentraCare is making the following improvements:

• CentraCare will maintain a Wi-Fi System to provide VRI services at CentraCare facilities that meets or exceeds the technical standards of the system in use at the times it was inspected by the independent evaluator.

• CentraCare will continue to implement its policy of using in-person sign language interpreters to communicate with patients and companions who are deaf for all scheduled appointments.

• In cases of non-scheduled appointments (such as Emergency Room visits) CentraCare will immediately contact agencies that provide in-person sign language interpreters and use VRI only while waiting for an in-person interpreter.

• CentraCare will endeavor to require its VRI vendors/service provider to meet certain minimum standards and requirements in its vendor agreements by including those standards and requirements in its requests for proposals and contracts with VRI service providers.

• CentraCare will conduct quarterly tests of its VRI system and VRI hardware to confirm that its hardware and its vendor(s) are in compliance with the minimum standards and requirements, and CentraCare will send report of these tests and results to MDLC every six months for two years.

• CentraCare will terminate its contracts with VRI providers who do not comply with/meet standards after one warning of and sixty days to remedy, provided a new vendor who can meet the standards is identified and available to contract with CentraCare and compatible with the system.

• CentraCare will contract with two more ASL VRI providers within 90 days.

• CentraCare will continue to use and have available in its facilities an adequate number of VRI Carts.

• CentraCare’s periodic staff training shall include training concerning the correct and effective use of the VRI system. CentraCare shall include in the periodic training to staff concerning the correct and effective use of the VRI.
  

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Media contacts:
Lisa Ramirez
Lramirez@mylegalaid.org
Communications Director
Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid
Minnesota Disability Law Center

Karna Fronden
Karna.Fronden@CentraCare.com
Public Relations Manager
CentraCare

CentraCare is an integrated, not-for-profit health care organization, working to improve the lives and wellbeing of those living in Central, Southwest and West Central Minnesota. CentraCare provides care through hospitals located in St. Cloud, Benson, Long Prairie, Melrose, Monticello, Paynesville, Redwood Falls, Sauk Centre and Willmar and provides both primary and specialty care throughout the region. With a focus on rural health care, CentraCare is one of the largest health systems in Minnesota and is proud to provide expert health care locally. Learn more at centracare.com.

Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid is a nonprofit law firm and the federally designated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agency for people with disabilities in the state of Minnesota. Its P&A function is carried out by the organization’s Minnesota Disability Law Center. Legal Aid provides free legal help to people with limited resources, disabilities and seniors, 60 years of age and older. Practice areas include Consumer, Disability, Family, Housing, Immigration, Public Benefits, Senior, Tax and Youth Law. Our Project Care navigators connect Minnesotans to affordable health coverage.