Indian Medical Program launches at RWJ Hospital in New Jersey

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset has unveiled a new Indian medical program that includes a trilingual patient navigator who will assist in coordinating care for members of the Indian community. Indian American Shisha Patel, a Gujarat native who is fluent in Gujarati and Hindi, will serve as the program coordinator.

Patel previously served as a health educator for the Indian community with the hospital’s community health department.

Patel will assist patients with making medical appointments, arranging round-trip transportation for medical appointments, finding specialty doctors, filling out forms, accompanying patients to treatments at both the hospital and doctors’ offices, and providing translation/interpretation services, the report said.

“We recognize that there are members of our community who are not getting the health care services they need due to language barriers,” Tony Cava, president of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, said in a statement.

“Our Chinese Medical Program has already been making a tremendous difference in helping members of the Chinese community get prompt access to medical care and improve their overall health and we are pleased to now offer the same patient navigation services for the Indian community.”

Patel, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, earned a bachelor’s in biology from Kean University and is currently pursuing a master of public health from Chamberlain University.

She has been with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital since 2013, first serving as a patient monitor for a year before becoming a PTA since May 2014.