Community Health Care Clinic / Facebook
A growing immigrant group in Bloomington-Normal faces barriers to getting medical attention.
The non-profit Community Health Care Clinic in Normal says Congolese patients face inequities because of the language barrier.
The clinic is used to care for immigrant communities. Five staff members are bilingual in Spanish. Nearly three-quarters of the clinic patient base is Hispanic.
What the clinic didn t have was a French interpreter, said Executive Director Mike Romagnoli. It s kind of a chicken-or-the egg situation, Romagnoli said. We have been caring for some of the patients from Congo for a while, but we have not been meeting their needs very well and primarily, it s communication.