In Butler County, perhaps not as ethnically diverse as other areas of the state, there can still be a need to help those who speak something other than English.

In hospitals and courtrooms misunderstanding due to language differences can have significant effects.

According to Marjorie Smith, case management director at Butler Memorial Hospital, BMH receives a few requests for language-translating services.

Smith said the hospital uses two types of translation. It can have someone in person do it, but it also can be done via a phone/video option.

“It is pretty much the patient’s preference,” she said.

For immediate use, a relay system uses a third-party interpreter as a middleman between the medical staff and patient. The staff member speaks through a phone or talks via video chat with the translator, who relays the message to the patient and vice versa.

Smith said this method is effective and works better when time is a concern, but not all patients like the process. She said for these patients it uses a referral service in Pittsburgh.

“If you want a person, we can certainly get a person,” she said.

Smith said the hospital has two of these phones, one in the emergency room and another that moves as needed. She said all staff members go through an online training.

“We evaluate our staff on this every year,” she said. “They’re really strict about it.”

Smith said the hospital used the phone 10 times in the last calender year, primarily for Spanish. She said staffers also needed the relay another 10 times for deaf patients.

While hospitals use more direct and official routes, Pete Geis, Cranberry Township’s Parks and Recreations director, said residents help each other overcome language barriers, although, the department does help by providing language classes when there is sufficient interest.

Geis said English, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish are regularly scheduled classes, while other languages are also taught when demand calls for it.

Geis said he works with companies, specifically those that attract ethnic employees, to see what their needs may be. He said it is important to consider the companies that primarily draw international people here.

Geis said Cranberry’s goal is to be as welcoming as possible to all nationalities.

Tom Holman, deputy district court administrator, handles the limited English proficiency coordinator duties for the county court system. He said the courts are prepared to eliminate language difficulties, when necessary, but few residents require the help.

“We don’t have much of a demand for translators,” he said.

Holman said the courthouse requests interpreters from a list compiled by the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. The roster contains names and contact information for translators certified for courtroom work.

The list is accessible to the public by downloading the document from the subhead page titled “Interpreter Roster.”

Holman said the courthouse keeps a record of how many translators or interpreters the court requests. In the past year, a Spanish translator was requested three times. An American Sign Language interpreter was requested three times, but by the same family and only once did they reach court before settling.

“We are prepared to provide translating services to anyone that comes our way,” he said. “They just don’t come our way.”

According to the 2013 estimate of the American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, only 3 percent of county residents over the age of 5 speak a language other than English. Of this 3 percent, only 0.8 percent speak English less than “very well.”