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Second Annual National Medical Interpreter Certification Forum To Be Held May 1, 2008, in Portland, Oregon

Leading Health Care Advocates Return to Discuss National Interpreter Certification To Raise Standards and Eliminate Language Barriers to Quality Health Care

MONTEREY, Calif.--(March 12, 2008)--Language Line Services President and COO Louis Provenzano announced today that the City of Portland, Oregon, has been selected as the site for the second annual National Medical Interpreter Certification Forum to be held Thursday, May 1, 2008.

The goal of the National Medical Interpreter Certification Forum is to improve and support standardization of the quality of language services in the nation’s health care institutions in order to eliminate linguistic and cultural barriers to quality care for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP).

The first annual National Medical Interpreter Certification Forum, held last May in Boston, Massachusetts, attracted more than 40 industry stakeholders, including representatives of various state and national interpreter associations, interpreters and providers of interpreter services, government officials, educators, trainers, and hospitals and health care organizations.

“Last year’s forum was the first of its kind to bring together a diverse set of stakeholders that truly crossed state lines and industry sectors allowing all interested participants to attend in order to openly share their experiences in the development of medical certification,” said Provenzano, whose company is a leading provider of language services.

“We have selected Portland as the site for the second annual forum in an effort to recognize Oregon for its ongoing commitment to providing at-risk populations with competent linguistic and cultural access to health care and other vital services.”

In 2001, the 71st Oregon Legislative Assembly passed Senate Bill 790. Sponsored by Senator Avel Gordly, the bill called for the provision of health care interpreters for persons with limited English proficiency.

Oregon is among a small group of states that have formalized, or are in the process of formalizing, medical interpreter certification standards. Others include Iowa, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Washington.

“Despite state and federal laws requiring the provision of interpreters, our country is in need of a national certification for medical interpreters, and we simply cannot put the health and well being of many at risk by taking years to reach that goal,” said Linda Joyce, a language access consultant and the former Director of Language Interpretive Services at Grady Health System in Atlanta.

In addition to improving access to quality health care, the National Medical Interpreter Certification Forum is also aimed at raising awareness of the vital role played by medical interpreters in the delivery of quality care.

“The forum gives an opportunity, in an inclusive and collaborative way, for me to hear about the latest developments in national certification and to help support my profession by being part of this important initiative,” said Dolores Turner, a Spanish speaking medical interpreter who resides in Oregon.

For more information about the second annual National Medical Interpreter Certification Forum, please contact Jeanette Anders, Language Line Services’ Health Care Director, at janders@languageline.com or 877-584-2545.

About National Medical Interpreter Certification Forum

In its conceptual phase, the National Medical Interpreter Certification Forum is an emerging group of stakeholders, large and small, private and public, working together to collaborate with a specific focus on the topic of National Medical Interpreter Certification. The purpose of this initiative is to improve and support standardization of the quality of language services in our nation’s health care institutions. 

About Language Line Services

Language Line Services, the global leader in telephone interpreting and total language solutions, serves clients in government, health care, telecom, financial services, insurance and many other industries by quickly connecting them to their customers, patients and sales prospects in over 170 spoken languages and American sign language. Growth of the language interpreting industry has soared with increased immigration and government regulatory policies mandating that organizations provide services to limited English speakers in their own languages. Language Line Services is recognized as a trusted partner to thousands of clients throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, providing access to the industry’s fastest language interpreting service at highly competitive rates. For more information about Language Line Services’ suite of dynamic solutions spanning telephone and video interpreting, document translation, interactive software-based translation, interpreter training and certification programs and regulatory compliance objectives, please call +1 (877) 886-3885 or visit www.languageline.com

Contact:

rbb Public Relations
Shawn Yanan, 305-962-1768
shawn.yanan@rbbpr.com