Health Care and Interpreter Experts Convene for First Global Advisory Council Meeting (GAC)

GAC Members come to Language Capital of the World* (Monterey, CA) to draw Charter for Think Tank Aimed at Increasing Availability of Trained, Tested and Certified Medical Interpreters

MONTEREY, CA – (September 3, 2008) – As part of its ongoing commitment to improve the quality of medical care provided to limited-English speaking patients, Language Line® University,  the globally recognized interpreter training and certification subsidiary of leading language solutions provider  Language Line Services, will host health care and interpreter industry experts from across the globe on September 15th and 16th, in Monterey, CA, for the inaugural meeting of the Global Advisory Council (GAC) which was formed in April,2008   

GAC members, which include health care and medical interpreters, hospitals, language access advocates, interpreter associations and other language service providers, will come together to draw a charter for the think tank formed to help guide medical interpreter-related programs and policy initiatives. The GAC will work to develop standardized training and testing guidelines for interpreters working in the medical field.

In addition to the creation of the GAC’s charter, mission and 2008-2009 strategic goals, major topics to be discussed at the September meeting include development of an international medical interpreter registry and other tools for enhancing the overall profile of the medical interpreting profession.

 “We are extremely pleased to host such an impressive group of national and international industry thought leaders for this first GAC meeting,” said Winnie Heh, Language Line University Provost.  “We are confident that the input and international perspective of the Global Advisory Council will help eliminate the costly, and often life-threatening, language barriers that are still present in today’s hospitals.”

The 14 inaugural members of the Global Advisory Council attending the meeting include:

1. Izabel Arocha, President, International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA), Boston, MA    
2. Isabel C. Barrera, Medical Interpreter Program Manager, Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, CO    
3. Louise Behiel,  Assistant Manager, Interpreting & Translation Services, Calgary Health Region, Canada
4. Janet Bonet, Director, Nebraska Association for Translators and Interpreters (NATI), Omaha, NE
5. Diane de Terra, Ph.D. Research Professor of Language Practice,  University of Maryland's National Foreign Language Center, College Park, MD
6. Kathleen K. Diamond, President and CEO, LLE Language Services,  Washington, DC
7. Winnie Heh, VP Global Operations, Language Line Services, Provost, Language Line University, Monterey, CA
8. Patricia Isaacs, Site Services Manager, University College Hospital London (UCLH), London, England    
9. David Jones, Interpreting & Volunteer Services, Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines, IA
10. Linda Joyce, Consultant Language Access Specialist, Walton, WV
11. Minhua Liu, PHD Professor, Fu Jen University and Taiwan Normal University, Taipei,Taiwan            
12. John Weiner, VP of Products & Services,  PSI Psychological Services, Burbank, CA
13. Eric Yu, CMO, China Translation & Publishing Corporation, Beijing, China    
14. Nancy Zarenda, Language Specialist and Policy Consultant; Community Advisory Board, UC Davis Health System, Sacramento, CA        

“This is an exciting and historic time in the interpreting industry as we are reaching beyond state and international borders to incorporate global perspectives and best practices,” said Nancy Zarenda, a certified Spanish interpreter from Sacramento, California who assists government agencies, organizations and businesses with multilingual policy formation. “As an experienced language specialist and policy consultant, I am honored to be part of this Global Advisory Council and to contribute to the creation of language access enhancements.”

* Monterey, Language Capital of the World

About Language Line University

Line University is the globally recognized interpreter training and certification subsidiary of Language Line Services, the leading provider of telephone interpreting and other language-based services.

Language Line Services is a trusted partner to thousands of organizations whose focus is to effectively serve the rapidly expanding market of limited English speakers.

The company delivers a dynamic suite of solutions spanning phone and video interpreting, translation, transcription, localization and localized software and devices and the only medical interpreter certification program that is externally validated.

Through its leading-edge technology infrastructure, Language Line Services provides support for more than 170 spoken languages and American Sign Language to its industry-leading portfolio of clients across markets including health care, financial services, government, telecom, manufacturing, insurance, entertainment, travel, and more.

For information on how Language Line Services is helping clients achieve their strategic multi-cultural marketing and regulatory compliance objectives, please call 1-800-752-6096 or visit http://www.languageLine.com