GREELEY, Colo. (Aug. 10, 2020) – Across Colorado, the Hispanic population accounts for 21.8% of the total 5.7 million residents. In Greeley, that percentage is nearly double. With a large Hispanic, Spanish-speaking community, this Northern Colorado city faces communication and cultural challenges every day. And during a pandemic, those challenges can mean life or death.
For Banner Health medical interpreters, Melissa Villarreal and Dania Davis, their role involves much more than language interpretation. They are a voice for both patients and physicians and a critical link between the two. They are trusted advocates for their patients, comforting confidantes for their families and reliable support for their Banner teammates working at North Colorado Medical Center (NCMC) in Greeley.
“It’s not about just knowing the language,” Villarreal said. “You have to know the terminology. A big piece is also knowing the culture and once you understand the culture, it makes it (communication) more accurate.”
As an immigrant from Panama, Davis understands both the Hispanic culture and medical terminology well. “We know the culture. We have to consider a lot of aspects to present our version of what the doctor is saying. We know how to help them,” she said. “I treat them as if they are my mom or dad. I serve them with the same love that I give my family.”
During the peak of COVID-19 cases earlier this year, family and visitors were not allowed to be with loved ones admitted to NCMC. In those cases, Villarreal and Davis really were their family, and at times, their only comfort. Davis would make maracas with plastic containers and paper clips to cheer patients up; she would dance and sing and do anything she could for a smile.
“I don’t care if people think I’m crazy, I just want them to feel loved,” she said. “We want the best for these people, we want to cheer them up. I know how lost and intimidating things can be, they need to know they can trust us because we care.”
Both Villarreal and Davis care deeply about the patients they work with – especially those fighting a virus that is so menacing and mysterious. These two women worked long hours, including evenings and weekends. They were asked to stay late or come early and wear proper protective equipment to keep themselves safe. Villarreal even lived apart from her family for weeks and often ate dinner in bed alone only to fall asleep shortly thereafter. Villarreal and Davis gave their heart and soul to their work, doing a job not just anyone can do.
“They are literally the most compassionate people I have met and the compassion they have for the Hispanic community as well as our hospital community is beyond measure,” Brittany Ford, BSN, RN, said, NOCO senior manager of clinical care operations for Banner. “Watching them work, during COVID, and now that COVID has let up a little, literally brings tears to my eyes – they are the personification of what Banner is about.”
Through the long days, tears, sadness and weight of working during COVID-19, Villarreal and Davis were not only there for their patients, they were there for each other.
“Dania and I have been working together a long time, we were there for one another and stayed strong,” Villarreal said. “How did we even do that? It was very intense. We were having nightmares; it was mentally and emotionally exhausting. I don’t know how we did it, but we kept coming every day.”
Banner offers interpreter services at all locations in Colorado. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.
About North Colorado Medical Center
North Colorado Medical Center is a fully accredited, private, nonprofit facility licensed in Greeley, Colorado, owned by Banner Health, a nonprofit healthcare system with 28 hospitals in six states. It serves as a regional medical center offering a comprehensive scope of community-based and specialty healthcare services for an area including southern Wyoming, western Nebraska, western Kansas and northeastern Colorado. It offers Emergency care, cancer care, heart care, orthopedics, inpatient and outpatient surgery, neonatal intensive care, obstetrics, pediatrics, rehabilitation, intensive care, lab and medical imaging, medical air transport and the Western States Burn Center. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com/NCMC.
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