Ayudante Program

Healdsburg District Hospital
Community Outreach Program

Healdsburg District Hospital has received a grant from The California Endowment for an innovative new program. The purpose of the Ayudante Program (Ayudante means "helper" in Spanish) is to enhance healthcare in the community surrounding the hospital which encompasses the cities of Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Geyserville and Windsor, as well as the rural communities of Northern Sonoma County.

The Ayudante Program is a community outreach program with an emphasis on the Hispanic community. Our primary service area covers approximately 50,000 residents. Our studies indicate a population of 50,000, of which 27% claim to be of Hispanic origin.

The Ayudante Program was designed by a coalition of local health professionals, farmworkers, hospital management, and clinical staff.

The program seeks to improve access to existing vital healthcare resources by providing needed transportation and translation services. By educating the underserved local communities, the program empowers people to enhance their own health and shape the Ayudante Program as it matures.

As a result of our study several major obstacles were readily found, including insufficient Spanish-speaking staff in key contact areas of the hospital, absent or inadequate bilingual signage, lack of convenient transportation, and the absence of Hispanic representation on prior hospital governing boards. The Ayudante Program was conceived to address these challenges.

Our Ayudante services include:

Bilingual hospital welcoming and guidance service available 7 days a week.
Spanish translation assistance available throughout the hospital.
Transportation coordination of a hospital van service enabling access by underserved groups such as agricultural workers, seniors, the local Alliance Medical Clinic, nearby skilled care nursing facilities, and other nearby cities and neighborhoods where demonstrated needs exist.
Improved hospital signage in English and Spanish throughout the hospital.
Clinical conversational Spanish classes offered to hospital staff, doctors and nurses.
Medical cultural sensitivity awareness classes.
Education outreach programs in both English and Spanish on health promotion and disease prevention topics identified by patients.
Performance evaluation and measurement with strong consumer input to monitor the effectiveness of the program and determine its suitability as a replicable, community-based hospital model.

Sincerely,

Mario Guzmán
Ayudante Program Director