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Hospital launches Korean program
(by Howard Prosnitz - January 03, 2008)
Korean-Americans comprise five percent of the population of Bergen County and are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the state, according to Kyung Hee Choi, director of Holy Name Hospital’s new Korean Medical Program.
On Nov. 15, Holy Name unveiled the new program, which is designed to bridge the cultural and language barriers facing Koreans in the tri-state area when they seek medical care.
The program is actually a re-location of one launched four years ago by Choi at Pascack Valley Hospital, where she served as vice president. With that hospital’s impending demise, Choi sought to move the program to elsewhere.
“We chose Holy Name because it is the most Korean friendly hospital in the region,” said Choi, who would not disclose the names of other area hospitals that had expressed interest in the program.
Holy Name is also centrally located to towns with the high Korean populations. Choi noted that Palisades Park has a 53 percent Korean population, Leonia, 40 percent and Ridgefield Park, 30 percent.
“Our goal in providing the Korean Medical Program is to become the hospital of choice of the Korean community,” said Michael Maron, CEO of Holy Name. “We are making every effort to make Holy Name a Korean friendly medical center.”
The program will be supported at Holy Name by a staff of 50 physicians, nurses and technicians who represent and serve the Korean community, said Dr. Paul Mendelowitz, the hospital’s VP for medical affairs, who noted that the program will include medical specialties ranging from pediatrics to geriatrics.
The Korean Program employs a staff of 10, including customer service representatives, who double as translators. The program maintains two outpatient centers in Closter and Englewood Cliffs, which are staffed by Korean physicians.
Many Koreans in the area are first generation in the United States said Choi. In addition to language, Korean cultural patterns form another barrier. It is essential that medical staff understand this culture when they are treating Koreans, she said.
She noted that even though many Koreans may have medical insurance, they are accustomed to paying cash in Korea. It would not be surprising, she said, for a Korean to show up at the hospital’s cashier’s window with a bag filled with thousands of dollars to pay for medical treatment.
A Korean patient’s name should never be written in red, Choi said. “In Korea when a person dies, the ink moves from black to red,” she explained. The number four is also taboo.
“In Korea, four signifies death, and it is important that staff never assigns a Korean patient to room number four,” she said.
While many American women would be offered a glass of cold water after delivery of a child, this would be an unwelcome beverage to a Korean woman, who would look forward to traditional seaweed soup.
As part of the program, Holy Name will offer a traditional Korean menu and will provide four television channels with Korean language programming.
Choi noted that a Korean might nod, as if in agreement, while listening to a doctor or nurse but not actually understand what is being said.
“The Korean communication style is very different,” said Choi. “Koreans tend to be very indirect.”
“Holy Name will be well positioned to become the most Korean oriented hospital in the region,” said Choi, who said she had done research had found no other hospital in the U.S. with an in- depth Korean program, not even on the West Coast.
“The Korean Program fits in with the attributes of Holy Name, which include a strong sense of compassion imbued by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, the founders of the hospital," said Mendelowitz.
Koreans will drive from New York or Connecticut to a hospital or clinic that serves their needs, said Choi, who was a banker on Wall Street for 25 years before becoming a hospital administrator. The program will pay for itself, she said.
“The bottom line is that it has to be profitable. Non-profit hospitals cannot survive unless they are making money,” she said.
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