VIA Announces 2013 Translation Grant Program Recipients

PORTLAND, Ore. - Oct. 29, 2013 - PRLog -- VIA, a leading provider of eLearning, translation and community insights, is pleased to announce the winners of its fifth annual Translation Grant Program, which honors innovative healthcare organizations that seek to improve healthcare access of underserved, ethnic communities. This year's recipients are Lutheran HealthCare and North East Medical Services. 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 actively working to improve health or access to healthcare for their ethnic and/or limited English proficiency (LEP) communities. According to the Office of Minority Health & Health Disparities, LEP and minority populations are more likely to have chronic disease, lack health insurance and have difficulties communicating with healthcare providers, even if qualified as highly literate in their primary language. Language services, such as translation and interpretation, can improve health care quality, the patient experience, adherence to recommended care, and ultimately health outcomes for these LEP populations.

“Giving back is part of the VIA DNA and we are so thankful for the opportunity to support these two innovative healthcare organizations in their efforts to remove language barriers and improve access to healthcare for their local LEP communities,” said Chanin Ballance, CEO, VIA. “Approximately one in five people in the U.S. speak another language than English at home and with the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, many of the newly insured individuals will be in need of language services to navigate the system and get the care they need."

Lutheran HealthCare serves a diverse, largely non-English speaking, immigrant community in Southwest Brooklyn. As a result of the growth in elderly immigrants in the community, they are working on a new website that includes a wide variety of information for seniors which they will translate into several different languages.

North East Medical Services is one of the largest community Health Centers in the United States servicing the medically underserved Asian population. They are currently working on translating materials for Affordable Care Act outreach and a new program for pediatric patients.

“North East Medical Services is thrilled to receive these translation services, which will be applied towards bilingual materials used by our 58,000 patients each year,” said Kathleen Sheung, Programs & Development Manager, NEMS.