Patients and Visitors
Interpreter Services provides interpreters to all clinics in the University of Michigan Health System, and the service is free of charge to both patients and providers. Though the bulk of our requests come from University Hospital and its satellite clinics in Ann Arbor, we also serve Health System clinics in cities like Brighton, Canton, Chelsea, Livonia and Ypsilanti.
If you are more comfortable speaking a language other than English, or if you are hard of hearing, please ask a staff member or care provider to contact Interpreter Services to arrange for an interpreter when you make your appointment.
Each year, we provide interpreters for nearly 30,000 encounters involving limited-English proficient and Deaf patients. Though we fill requests for more than 40 languages, eight languages make up 95 percent of these requests. Our flexible staff and large pool of contractors ensure that an interpreter can be found for almost any language, at practically any time.
Our interpreters are highly qualified and carefully screened, and can be requested 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But in order for us to process your request more effectively, please try to contact us at the time the appointment is made, or at least one day prior to the appointment. We can take requests up to a year in advance.
Interpreter Services also provides written translations to non-UMHS clients, including businesses, non-profits and other health centers. Contact our Translation Division coordinator for information on fees, time frames and languages available.
Our Hours:
Our office hours are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. During non-office hours, patients may request Health System staff to contact interpreters for most languages for you.
If you are a non-Health System provider, you can contract us to provide interpreters for a fee for Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Sign Language and Spanish. Contact Interpreter Services for details.
Other Services
In addition to interpreters and signers, our services include:
- Telecommunication Device for the Deaf are available for patients upon request. Public TDD's are located throughout the Health System in the following locations:
- Floor 1, Taubman Center, across from the Registration desk
- B1, Department of Emergency Services
- Floor 2, University Hospital, across from the FRIENDS Gift Shop
- Floor 2, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, at the entrance between Mott and the Taubman Center
- Floor 2, Med Inn, near the lobby
- Amplified Telephones may be obtained for hard of hearing inpatients.
- Closed Captioning is available on all televisions.
- Personal Assisted Listening Devices are available for patients upon request.
- Translated medical documentation in their language of choice.
