AHS Interpreter Services Manager Sambo Ly Receives KPIX Icon Award for Community Service
TL;DR
Sambo Ly's leadership at Alameda Health System demonstrates how effective language access services can provide a competitive advantage in healthcare by reaching diverse patient populations.
Alameda Health System's interpreter services department handles 2000 daily requests across 100 languages using in-house interpreters for 10 languages and remote access for 300 languages.
Sambo Ly's work ensures equitable healthcare access for refugees and immigrants, making the world better by eliminating language barriers that prevent proper medical care.
A genocide survivor now leads interpreter services at Alameda Health System, helping thousands communicate with doctors while preserving Cambodian culture through dance and community events.
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Sambo Ly, Alameda Health System's manager of interpreter services, has received the Icon Award from Bay Area news station KPIX in recognition of her decades of service to refugees and community members in Alameda County. The award highlights individuals who have made significant and impactful contributions to their communities.
Ly leads AHS' interpreter services department, which handles approximately 2,000 interpreter requests daily across 100 different languages for patients needing communication assistance with healthcare providers. Alameda County ranks among the most ethnically and linguistically diverse counties in the United States, with many AHS patients having limited English proficiency.
The department provides in-house interpretation in 10 languages, either in person or remotely, and offers access to on-demand remote interpreters for up to 300 languages. Recent innovations include introducing iPads that enable clearer patient-provider conversations.
AHS CEO James Jackson emphasized that "language access is a cornerstone of our mission of caring, healing, teaching, and serving all. Sambo's leadership and compassion ensure that no patient is left behind because of a language barrier. Her story reflects the resilience of our community and the values that guide us every day at AHS."
Ly's dedication stems from her personal experiences surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia. As children, she and her brother were sent to a forced labor camp where her brother disappeared after asking her to mend his pants. Contracting malaria, Ly witnessed ill people swarmed with flies in a hospital, which inspired her determination to survive and pursue healthcare. "I was determined to walk out of my deathbed and refused to die," she recalled.
After refugee workers helped Ly and her family reach the United States, she joined AHS and dedicated her life to assisting fellow refugees, immigrants, and underserved communities. Her community involvement extends beyond healthcare, including organizing weekly Cambodian dance classes, assisting with citizenship paperwork, transporting Buddhist elders, serving as Board Chair of Peralta Hacienda Park, and organizing the Bay Area's largest Cambodian event for 15 years.
Ly expressed humility about receiving the award, stating, "I know from my own experience that having a language barrier is an invisible disability. Once I had the opportunity to work at Alameda Health System, I saw an opportunity to give back to my community." She credited her interpreter services colleagues for providing compassionate language assistance that makes a daily difference in patients' lives.
Curated from Noticias Newswire
