8
Texas Association of Healthcare Interpreters and Translators
F E AT U R E
F
our seasoned healthcare professionals were recognized as 2013
Language Access Champions at the 7
th
Annual Membership
Meeting of the National Council on Interpreting in Health
Care (NCIHC). The purpose of this award is to honor a person,
program, or organization whose work has contributed to improving the lives
of all people through the promotion of language access in healthcare. “We
are delighted to be able to shine a light on these individuals whose efforts
should be known to all,” said NCIHC President Joy Connell. “Each one has
worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure that everyone, regardless
of ability to speak English, has access to services Each of these individuals is
contributing to what makes sense, is fair, and is right in health care.”
Patti Greene
is the Director of Patient and Family Services at Southern NH
Medical Center in Nashua, New Hampshire, where she led the effort to
create an ASL video with captioning in English that welcomes patients to
the hospital and provides access to vital information and documents. With
a focus on quality, accessibility and universality, the resulting product was
one that has been lauded by members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing
community. In addition, the video was designed to be a resource for other
area hospitals as well. Ms. Greene’s efforts were noteworthy for the extra
expense, time, and effort required to create a quality product that welcomes
and empowers individuals and families who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
To see the video:
.
Maria Michalczyk
is currently a Branch Manager at Coram Healthcare,
but her advocacy for LEP individuals seeking health care goes back to
1992 when she was Manager of Medical Interpreter Services at Oregon
Health and Science University (OHSU), and then later was Director of the
Healthcare Interpreter Training Program at Portland Community College from
2001 to 2011. She was instrumental in the development and growth of the
NCIHC from the initial Working Group to the organization that it is today,
volunteering on the Organizational Development Committee, later serving
as NCIHC Board Co-Chair, and in her last years as NCIHC Treasurer.
Additionally, Ms. Michalczyk was very involved in the development of
national certification for healthcare interpreters and until recently served as
a Commissioner for the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters
(CCHI). According to Connell, “There are numerous other contributions
Maria has made to this field, the vast majority of which are unknown to
most people. This is because Maria is a true Language Access Champion
-- everything that she has done has not been to benefit her or her career, but
has truly been for the direct benefit of LEP persons. To recognize her as one
of this year’s Language Access Champions is an honor long over-due.”
Victor Sosa
, the Language Access Coordinator at Natividad Medical
Center in Salinas, California is a pioneer interpreter and trainer. Recognizing
that most of the agricultural laborers in the surrounding valley were not
Language Access
Champions Honored in
Seattle by the National
Council on Interpreting
in Health Care
By THE NCIHC OUTREACH COMMITTEE
“
The purpose of this award is to honor a
person, program, or organization whose
work has contributed to improving the
lives of all people through the promotion
of language access in healthcare.
”
