Shekou People s Hospital in Shenzhen has established a databank of volunteers speaking more than 70 languages for foreigners seeking medical treatment.
More than 30 foreigners in Shekou, Nanshan District, had registered as volunteers on the databank, Meng Li, head of the hospital clinic said yesterday.
The databank of interpreters, the first of the kind in public hospitals in Shenzhen, was built to the standards of the Joint Commission International (JCI), Meng said.
Some of the volunteers were recruited when they went to the clinic for treatment.
When some foreigners came for treatment, I often asked them which language they spoke and whether they wanted to volunteer as interpreters, said Meng. Some were recommended by Shekou International (Asia) Women s Club and the Asia Culture Association.
As well as English, German, French, Italian and Dutch, the databank also has less common languages such as Polish and Icelandic.
Some of the volunteers are airline pilots and executives of foreign investment companies in Shekou, said Meng.
Since foreigners assigned to Shenzhen generally stayed for about one to two years, Meng said he generally keeps two or three volunteers for one language.
The hospital generally treats 3,000 foreigners a year including some from neighboring cities such as Dongguan.
SOS International, which operates a clinic in Shekou, also sends foreign patients to the hospital for treatment.
There are around 30,000 foreigners from 115 countries living permanently in Shenzhen.
