Sambo Ly, Alameda Health System's manager of interpreter services, has been awarded the Icon Award from Bay Area news station KPIX in recognition of her decades of service to refugees and community members in Alameda County. The Icon Award highlights individuals who have made significant and impactful contributions to their community, with KPIX reporter Sharon Chin documenting Ly's remarkable journey from surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide to her current work serving safety-net patients.
Ly leads AHS's interpreter services department, which handles approximately 2,000 interpreter requests daily across 100 different languages for patients needing communication assistance with healthcare providers. Alameda County stands as one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse counties in the United States, with many AHS patients arriving with limited English proficiency. The department provides in-house interpretation in 10 languages, either in person or remotely, while offering access to on-demand remote interpreters for up to 300 languages. Recent innovations include introducing iPads that enable clearer patient-provider conversations.
Language access represents a fundamental component of healthcare equity, particularly in diverse communities where communication barriers can prevent adequate medical care. AHS CEO James Jackson emphasized that "language access is a cornerstone of our mission of caring, healing, teaching, and serving all. Sambo's leadership and compassion ensure that no patient is left behind because of a language barrier. Her story reflects the resilience of our community and the values that guide us every day at AHS."
Ly's dedication to service stems from her personal experiences of immense suffering and resilience during the Khmer Rouge regime. As children, Ly and her brother were sent to a forced labor camp, where her brother disappeared after asking her to mend his pants—an event that left her permanently affected. Contracting malaria and witnessing horrific conditions in a hospital where ill people were swarmed with flies, Ly determined to survive, stating "I was determined to walk out of my deathbed and refused to die." This experience inspired her healthcare career path after refugee workers helped her family leave Cambodia and resettle in the United States.
Beyond her professional role, Ly's community impact extends through organizing weekly traditional Cambodian dance classes at her home, assisting thousands with citizenship paperwork, transporting Buddhist elders and monks to temples across California, serving as Board Chair of Peralta Hacienda Park, and organizing the annual Cambodian New Year celebration for 15 years—the largest Cambodian event in the Bay Area. Ly expressed humility about receiving the Icon Award, noting "I know from my own experience that having a language barrier is an invisible disability. Once I had the opportunity to work at Alameda Health System, I saw an opportunity to give back to my community." She credited her dedicated coworkers in the interpreter services department for providing compassionate language assistance that makes a daily difference in patients' lives.
