It’s International Translation Day, a good time to remember Intermountain is required by federal law to provide a qualified interpreter at no cost to patients, members, and their families or companions. Intermountain is committed to providing extraordinary care and equity with an outstanding Language Access program. We provide timely access to interpretation services in more than 200 languages, either in person, via video or telephone interpretation. We now average 33,000 encounters each month, a 32% increase from 2019. Be sure to always use a qualified interpreter in any patient interaction.
“The Language Services department had a lot of opportunities to grow and adapt during the last year,” says Carlos Martinez-Morales, language services and cultural competency manager. “Intermountain staff interpreters now service patients in person at more facilities through the system, as well as now providing video and telephone interpretation services. We have some of the best medical interpreters in the area, and their linguistic and cultural knowledge help bridge the communication gap experienced by so many of our community members.”
“Medical interpretation is a fairly new profession,” says Emma Fernandez-Andersen, language services manager for the North Service Area. “Making this a career path has meant challenging myself constantly—trying to learn from the experts in the many fields that I’ve had the privilege of serving and always knowing there’s much more to learn. It’s truly gratifying to be part of a connection between different cultures, which otherwise might not have had an opportunity to understand each other.”
You’re invited to show your appreciation for our interpreters in Yammer using #TranslationDay, or send your thoughts to LanguageServices@imail.org.