When Language Becomes a Matter of Life and Death

After experiencing early family tragedy and witnessing the vulnerable position between patients who don’t speak English and medical staff who don’t speak Spanish, a physician and policy expert team up for a decades-long fight to bring Spanish-speaking doctors to California. 

This story was made in collaboration with WHYY’s health and science show The Pulse, and supported by The Commonwealth Fund.

It was reported & produced by Charlie Garcia. Story Editing & Production Support from Maiken Scott & Alan Jinch.  Sound Design & Mixing by Charlie Garcia. Additional field reporting from Jackie Noack, and additional audio editing from Julian Blackmore. Our Supervising Producer is Mark Pagán. Special thanks to Erick Lopez, Mayra Pantoja, and the staff at Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas.

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