The St. Elizabeth Family Medicine Practice facility and the St. Elizabeth Medical Center of which it is a part, serves a culturally diverse clientele, including health care recipients who have lived all of their lives in the Utica community and those who have just arrived as refugees and immigrants. Like other health care facilities in the United States, St. Elizabeth's patients are members of different races and ethnic groups, but also have other cultural differences including language, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, mental ability, and religion. As administrators at the Family Practice facility discovered when dealing with the Latino community, for example, the departure of a Spanish-speaking doctor resulted in their Latino clients seeking health services elsewhere. The National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Child Development Center, lists five essential elements which contribute to an organization's ability to become more culturally competent. These five elements should be manifested at every level of an organization, including policy making, administration, and practice.
Patients are responsible for their appointments and administration of their medications.
However, many communications issues arise with regard to patient's understanding of instructions if he or she is from a different cultural background. This is especially important since, the medical residents in St. Elizabeth's Family Medicine Residency Program also come from several African and Asian countries and do not speak English as their primary language. For general guidelines, please see Language and Communications Styles. St. Elizabeth Family Medicine Residency Program has established the Refugee Clinic in association with the Mohawk Valley Resources Center for Refugees. The Clinic is operated once a week, on Thursdays.