2011 VIA Translation Grant Program Recipients Announced

By United Language Group

VIA, a leading provider of multilingual solutions for healthcare organizations, is pleased to announce the winners of its third annual Translation Grant, which honors innovative healthcare organizations that seek to improve healthcare access of underserved, ethnic communities. This year’s recipients are the Akron Children’s Hospital and Caring Health Center, Inc. The organizations will each receive $1,500 of in-kind translation services.

The VIA Translation Grant is a unique in-kind donation program awarding translation services to organizations that are working to provide language services and ultimately improve health care for communities with limited English proficiency. More than 60 million people – about one in five legal U.S. residents – speak a language other than English at home, and it’s not all Spanish, with more than 176 different languages and dialects spoken across the country.

“We feel strongly about giving back to the community and enabling better access to healthcare for all and through this grant, VIA aspires to help innovative healthcare organizations improve the health and access to healthcare of underserved, ethnic communities,” said Chanin Ballance, CEO of VIA. “These two outstanding organizations embody our philosophy are working hard to tackle some of our country’s biggest healthcare challenges.”

The Language Access Services (LAS) Program at Akron Children’s Hospital (ACH) is a new program both within the institution and within the community in the Akron area. It was created in 2010 to address the need for centralization and coordination of language access initiatives and services. It is the only program of this kind in the entire community and serves as a resource for other area hospitals and organizations. The Akron area is a refugee resettlement area and as such significant diversity is reflected in the population served. The most frequently encountered populations served at ACH with limited English proficiency speak Nepali, Burmese or KaRen and Spanish.

Caring Health Center, Inc. (CHC) is the second largest refugee health assessment site in the state of Massachusetts, serving populations from Vietnam, Russia, Iraq, Turkey, Bosnia, Ukraine, Somalia, Sudan, Liberia and other Eastern European, African and Middle Eastern countries. A total of 6,889 patients seen in 2010 were best served in a language other than English. Additionally, CHC is experiencing a rapid growth and increasing diversity in their immigrant populations. The needs of these refugees are great both in terms of medical care and in terms of getting acclimated to life in the U.S.

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