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Office of Equity and Inclusion
Oregon Health Authority

Overview of the Oregon Health Care Interpreters Certification Program


Health Care Interpreters Certification Program
Contact information
David Cardona, Coordinator
Health Care Interpreters Certification Program
971-673-1286
David.Cardona@state.or.us
mother and child with doctor

Oregon Health Care Interpreters Certification Program is the state entity charged with implementing certifications in the State of Oregon.

 


Health care interpreting is defined as:

...interpreting that takes place in health care settings of any sort, including doctor's offices, clinics, hospitals, home health visits, mental health clinics, and public health presentations. Typically the setting is an interview between a health care provider (doctor, nurse, lab technician) and a patient (or the patient and one or more family members) (National Council on Interpreting in Health Care).

As Oregon and the United States as a whole becomes more linguistically diverse, professional, trained, and certified interpreters are more important than ever. It is well documented that limited English proficient (LEP) persons have difficulty accessing medical care and have poorer health outcomes than the population at large.

 

By law, implementation of health care interpreter certfication is divided into 3 phases:

  1. Registration - establishing a searchable database of all health care interpreters in the state. Available currently.
     
  2. Qualification - language proficiency examination in English and another language is currently available.
     
  3. Certification - certification in health care interpreting. Currently available in Spanish. Availability of other languages has not yet been determined.

A comprehensive introduction to the program is available in PDF PowerPoint.

 

Page updated: November 25, 2011