Interpreter Services

At Stanford Medicine Children's Health, we communicate in your preferred language.

We strive to provide complete support to all our patients and their families. This includes respecting their language or cultural needs. Our first priority is effective communication between you and our medical team.

If you prefer to receive medical information in a language other than English, our free Interpreter Services team is available to assist patients and their families effectively communicate about and understand their medical journey.

In-person interpretation

• Spanish interpreters are here at hospital 7 a.m. - 3:30 a.m., 7 days a week.
• Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese interpreters are here during business hours.
  • Business hours are Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Other languages: pre-scheduling is required for in-person interpretation.

Video remote interpretation

• Spanish interpreters can speak to you through phone or video 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• You can contact an interpreter using the iPad as a phone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are iPads available in most rooms. There are 200 language options for this method.
• You can contact an interpreter via video on the iPad during business hours.
  • There are 25 language options for this method.
  • Indigenous language interpreters are available by phone appointment only.
• For our Deaf or Hard of Hearing families, we provide American Sign Language interpretation through video in our lobby, our units, and clinics.

We partner with specialized agencies to meet our families’ needs.