viaLanguage’s 2010 Healthcare Translation Grant Recipient Announced

viaLanguage, a leader in healthcare translation and website localization services, is pleased to announce the winner of its second annual Healthcare Translation Grant Program, which honors an innovative healthcare organization that seeks to improve healthcare access of underserved, ethnic and limited English proficiency (LEP) communities. This year’s recipient is The Alameda County Access to Care Collaborative in California, which will receive $5,000 of in-kind translation services.

The Alameda County Access to Care Collaborative’s mission is to build strategic partnerships across organizations and develop countywide strategies to expand health coverage and increase access to high quality health care for low income populations in Alameda County, California. Alameda County, California is extremely diverse—according to the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), 22% of the population is Latino, 23% Asian, and 13% African American. According the CHIS, 40% of the population in Alameda County speaks a “non-English-only language” or “English and one or other language(s)” at home. Moreover, 23% of the population reports speaking English “not well or not at all.”

“In 2009, we published a baseline assessment of the uninsured in Alameda County. One of the unexpected findings was how challenging it was to gather basic information on the safety net. Something as simple as finding a list of clinics or an explanation of the different services available was nonexistent,” said Beth Newell, Project Analyst, Alameda Health Consortium. “It was clear some sort of comprehensive website for the public was needed. In 2010, we began working on such a resource. This grant is indispensible in a timely roll-out of this project in multiple languages. We plan to use this grant to translate the website into Spanish and Chinese.”

“The Alameda County Access to Care Collaborative website project shares our same commitment: remove language barriers in order to improve access to quality healthcare for underserved minority and LEP populations,” said Bill Kennedy, Healthcare Account Executive of viaLanguage. “The goal of our Translation Grant Program is to support healthcare organizations whose budgets don’t always cover their increasing demands.”

About viaLanguage
viaLanguage, a leading provider of healthcare translation and localization services, is committed to improving access to healthcare by removing language and cultural barriers that may prevent people from otherwise obtaining such care. viaLanguage partners with numerous hospitals and health plans to better serve ethnic and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) communities and improve language access through translation and cultural adaptation of their materials. Corporate Headquarters are located at 700 SW Taylor Street, Suite 310 Portland, OR 97205-3016. For more information, visit www.vialanguage.com or call us at 503-243-2007.

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Rachel Weikum

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Weikum Communications

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