Overview
The International Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle offers comprehensive primary and mental healthcare services to refugees and immigrants aged 16 and older. The clinic provides a range of services, including behavioral healthcare, internal medicine, international medicine, primary care, and travel medicine. The clinic is located on the first floor of the Harborview Medical Center building.
The clinic has more than 12,000 visits a year and often cares for patients and their children long-term. Clinic staff speak more than 30 languages to serve patients in their native language while treating their complex medical needs. The IMC hires most of its staff from the communities the clinic serves, allowing staff to use their language skills and work with their own community. This builds a cohesive and inclusive team at the clinic, where everyone is respected and empowered to speak up on behalf of their patients. In patient communities, this practice has built credibility and trust.
This relationship between the clinic and their patient communities was strengthened with the creation of the Community House Calls (CHC) program. CHC serves patients and families with limited English proficiency, as well as their communities. Bilingual and bicultural caseworker cultural mediators provide cultural mediation, advocacy, and education for patients and providers alike. They also assist patients with interpretation, navigating the health care system navigation, and managing their care.
Cultural mediators also educate communities on health topics with a cultural lens and bridge institutional and community viewpoints to work toward positive health outcomes. As the clinic’s credibility within various communities grew over time, the clinic expanded and drew patients into every hospital service.
IMC offers other primary care services with cultural differences in mind. The pharmacy has specialized services, and staff are familiar with the chasm between the U.S. medical system and that of patients’ home countries. For example, patients sometimes bring one prescription bottle that contains all their pills. Pharmacists can help patients manage their medication and avoid adverse medication interactions caused by different prescriptions received in different locations. The clinic also provides nutrition services that work with the patient’s dietary practices, as well as acupuncture. IMC has experience with incorporating native homeopathic remedies or healing ceremonies into traditional medicine when appropriate, although these requests have waned over time due to cultural drift.
The International Medicine Clinic has several external partnership including:
The Refugee Health Promotion Project (RHPP) is a partnership between Harborview’s International Medicine Clinic (IMC), the Department of Health, the Department of Social and Health Services, and local refugee resettlement agencies. This program supports newly arrived refugee patients with higher medical needs to receive specialized primary care services through IMC for ongoing care.
Reference: America’s Essential Hospitals, Julie Kozminski is a policy manager at America’s Essential Hospitals.