Language Services

At Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, we offer the following services at no cost to you:

  • Face-to-face language interpreting with professional medical interpreters.
  • Face-to-face sign language interpreting and telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD/TTY).
  • Access to telephone interpreting from any CHOP phone.
  • Access to video remote interpreting (VRI) services at many CHOP locations.
    • Philadelphia Campus: Welcome Desks, Emergency Department (ED), Radiology, Surgery, Centers for Families, all outpatient clinics, and all inpatient units.
  • CHOP Speaks Your Language, a phone interpreting service provided for use by patient families when placing calls to the hospital or any CHOP staff or providers

During your stay at the hospital, your child's nurse can help you gain access to face-to-face interpreting services when necessary. 

Throughout Philadelphia Campus, staff at any Welcome Desk can help you gain access to interpreting services.

CHOP Speaks Your Language

If you would like to have an interpreter on the line before you place a call to CHOP, please dial (877) 463-7907 and follow the menu prompt in your preferred language. You will be connected directly to an interpreter for your selected language without having to wait for an operator, and this interpreter will connect you to the CHOP phone number of your choice, and then stay on the line to interpret the call.

The following languages are available on CHOP Speaks Your Language, as announced in its menu prompts:

  1. Spanish/Español, (877) 463-7907, Option 1
  2. Arabic/عربي, (877) 463-7907, Option 2
  3. Bengali/বাংলা, (833) 714-3267
  4. Burmese/မြန်မာဘာသာ, (833) 716-5556
  5. Mandarin/普通话, (877) 463-7907, Option 3
  6. Cantonese/普通话, (877) 463-7907, Option 4
  7. Vietnamese/Tiếng Việt, (877) 463-7907, Option 5
  8. Portuguese/Português, (877) 463-7907, Option 6
  9. French/ Français, (877) 463-7907, Option 7
  10. Farsi/فارسی, (833) 719-6855
  11. Haitian Creole/Kreyòl Ayisyen, (844) 219-0574
  12. Korean/ 한국어, (844) 219-1368
  13. Polish/Polskie, (844) 219-8269
  14. Somali/Soomaali, (844) 219-6880
  15. Russian/русский, (877) 463-7907, Option 8
  16. Nepali/ नेपाली, (877) 463-7907, Option 9

Interpreting services available at CHOP for the deaf and hard of hearing

Auxiliary aids and services are communication services and tools that can be requested by or for patients and families who are deaf or hard of hearing.

These tools and services include interpreters for the deaf, American Sign Language interpreters, real-time translation, telecommunication devices (TTY), voice carry-over and amplified telephones, video phones, telephone and video relay services, assisted listening devices, and/or closed captioned television to assist with communication and interpretation between deaf or hard of hearing patients and/or their family and hospital staff.

Telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) are available throughout the Philadelphia Campus. You can also arrange to have a TDD machine at your child's bedside. Please see your child's nurse for more information.

TTY and VCO (voice carry over) telephones are available at the Little Rock Resource Room, located on the 11th floor of the Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care.


Next Steps
1-800-TRY-CHOP