Greene County General Hospital (GCGH) just wrapped up its first session of Spanish Classes offered to GCGH employees in an effort to better communicate with patients and their families.

Fourteen GCGH employees and members of the administration team recently graduated from this inaugural course. Students spent the last 13 weeks committed to studying and learning the basics of the Spanish language.

The decision to offer these classes to staff was made after GCGH Chaplain, Rhonda Haynes, ThM, MA, BS, saw a need at our hospital and in our community to connect with the growing population of Spanish-speaking people in our area.

Haynes has a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Studies with an emphasis on teaching cross-culturally. She has been a professor at the college and seminary level for the past 9 years and is fluent in Spanish, having learned it while living in South America. Haynes has taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in South America and currently every summer for two weeks in the Czech Republic. The principles and methods for teaching ESL have transferred well to teaching Spanish to English speakers.

Haynes says, “It can be intimidating to try and speak to or help someone who speaks a different language, so I wanted to help our team become more comfortable with the language and understand some basic grammar and vocabulary to better serve the families and patients.”

GCGH is planning to offer a second session of Beginning Spanish Classes for its workers this Fall.