In Texas, approximately 50,000 children live with epilepsy and seizures. For a parent of a child with epilepsy, navigating a complicated health care system can be difficult, especially for those parents with limited English proficiency. That’s why a doctor with UT Health Austin is now opening a special clinic at Dell Children’s Medical Center to treat Spanish-speaking patients and their families.
Dr. Karen Skjei is the founder and Director of the Clínica Hispana de Epilepsia Pediátrica for Spanish-speaking limited English proficient patients and families. She is a board-certified pediatric epileptologist in UT Health Austin Pediatric Neurosciences at Dell Children’s, a clinical partnership between UT Health Austin and Dell Children’s Medical Center. She is also an active researcher in healthcare disparities in pediatric epilepsy. The goal of this new epilepsy clinic is to help tackle the significant healthcare challenges impacting minority communities here in Austin.
“What we’re trying to do is correct some of these health disparities that we see in the Hispanic and limited English proficient populations through a language concordant clinic. So, through a clinic where the provider and the patient speak the same language,” says Dr. Skjei.
The Clínica Hispana de Epilepsia Pediátrica is expected to this December. For more information about the clinic or the available bilingual nurse position, please call 1-512-628-1855 or visit here.