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

[Harold Schiffman]

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, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of its ongoing commitment
to improve the quality of medical care provided to limited-English
speaking patients, Language Line(R) 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. Kathleen K. Diamond, President and CEO, LLE Language Services,
Washington, DC

6. Winnie Heh, VP Global Operations, Language Line Services, Provost,
Language Line University, Monterey, CA

7. Patricia Isaacs, Site Services Manager, University College Hospital
London (UCLH), London, England

8. David Jones, Interpreting & Volunteer Services, Mercy Medical
Center, Des Moines, IA

9. Linda Joyce, Consultant Language Access Specialist, Walton, WV

10. Minhua Liu, PHD Professor, Fu Jen University and Taiwan Normal
University, Taipei,Taiwan

11. Diane de Terra, Ph.D. Research Professor of Language Practice,
University of Maryland's National Foreign Language Center, College
Park, MD

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 Policy and Leadership Community Advisory
Board Member, 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 a veteran language specialist and policy
consultant, I am honored to be part of this Global Advisory Council
and the enhancements to language access we can hopefully create."

* Monterey, Language Capital of the World

About Language Line University

Language 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.

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