Press Releases: National
May 18, 2007
How do you say "My Head Hurts" in Mongolian? — Celebrating 10 Years of Overcoming Patient Language Barriers
Kaiser Permanente & City College of San Francisco Train Hundreds of Certified Professional Health Care Interpreters
OAKLAND, Calif. – The newest group of professional health care interpreters from the acclaimed Kaiser Permanente Health Care Interpreter Certificate Program (HCICP) in partnership with City College of San Francisco, will graduate Saturday, May 19th. The unique program addresses the serious shortage of formally trained health care interpreters, related training programs, and national certification standards in the United States.
An extended graduation-anniversary program and festivities will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 19th in the main campus cafeteria of City College of San Francisco (CCSF). More than 500 interpreters have completed the CCSF program and can be found at health care facilities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area helping patients who primarily speak Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Russian, Amharic, and Eritrean – all these languages just in the Bay Area.
"There is no other program like this in the country. Eliminating language barriers is essential to eliminating disparities in health care. After all, the success of medical care depends upon a patient’s ability to understand the clinician and follow the prescribed medical treatment," stated Gayle Tang, director, national linguistic and cultural programs, National Diversity. "The key is the creation of professional and quality standards, sustainable infrastructure and educational partnerships. We have set quality standards for the industry and we have elevated the stature of professional interpreters. The result helps patients overcome the language barriers, and helps eliminate health disparities."
Kaiser Permanente designed the model HCI curriculum in 1996 which has now been disseminated across the country. It has also established multiple internship programs and certified faculties. This innovative and cost effective model has shown that partnerships between health care organizations and accredited academic institutions are not only sustainable, but mutually beneficial. Kaiser Permanente and City College of San Francisco now continue to develop the core content materials and supports new and existing HCICP partnerships across the country. So far, over 100 faculties have received the training nationwide. More than 1,000 graduates now provide interpreter services in more than 12 different languages.
CCSF offers competitively priced, short-term service courses meet the training needs of business, industry and government, and personal enrichment of community members. One of these vocational programs is the Healthcare Interpreter Certificate Program (HCI), a 360-hours program now celebrating its 10th anniversary. Its mission is to develop linguistically and culturally competent interpreters who can function effectively and efficiently in the healthcare setting. Health care Interpreters are diverse bilingual/bicultural individuals who facilitate understanding and communication in various clinical settings between providers and patients who speak different languages (other than English) and come from different cultures. They interpret between English and the language of the patient and/or family so that all parties can understand and fully participate in health care. In a two-semester program, students learn medical terms and concepts, diagnostics, treatments, expressions, idioms, cultural frameworks for two cultures, specialized interpretation skills, and health career information. They also perform an internship at a local hospital or clinic in order to practice the theoretical skills learned in class. For more information about the program, go to www.healthcareinterpreter.info.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.
