Yilu Ma, MS, MA, CMI
Director, Interpreter Services Department

Members of Interpreter Services gather on International Translation Day

On Sept. 30, Interpreter Services celebrated International Translation Day in the Shapiro Breakout Room. Jackie Somerville, PhD, RN, chief nursing officer and senior vice president of Patient Care Services, attended the ceremony and delivered congratulations on behalf of senior leadership. She recognized the interpreters for their contributions in delivering compassionate and culturally sensitive care to patients with language barriers, and emphasized their essential role in serving the local and global communities. She said: “Two years ago, I was standing at this podium celebrating  International Translation Day with you. Since then, a lot has changed in the landscape of health care, but one thing remains the same: your commitment to providing the best interpreting services to our limited-English-proficiency patients and our deaf and hard-of-hearing patients.” Leo Buckley, MBA, executive director of Business Services for Patient Care Services, also expressed his heartfelt appreciation for the interpreter team and pledged continued support for providing seamless linguistic and cultural services to patients. More than 100 BWHers attended the ceremony, sharing their experiences working with interpreters while enjoying a variety of cultural foods. In FY14, the Interpreter Services department provided more than 68,000 face-to-face and telephonic interpretations.