After 18 long months of empty seats. . .
. . .we’ve got onsite interpreters again!
In March of 2020, CommunityHealth transitioned to a fully remote interpreting program to maintain the safety of our volunteers and patients amidst the pandemic. We’re so proud of the way our interpreting team adapted to overcome that challenge, and our remote interpreter services will continue, but we’ve definitely missed seeing them around the clinic.
That’s why we’re SO excited to welcome them back! Meghana Venkatesan, one of our incredible Spanish interpreter volunteers, was the very first member of the team to return.
Meghana is a Spanish interpreter and the daughter of one of our volunteer medical providers. She joined us a couple months ago in July, so this week marked not only the re-opening of our on-site volunteers, but her first time interpreting for us on-site! Meghana will be continue volunteering at both our West Town and Onward House locations, and we’re so grateful for her service.
In fact, we’d like to thank our interpreter team at large for the amazing work they’ve done. Despite the many challenges posed by the pandemic, we haven’t had to cancel a single patient appointment due to lack of interpreter support – that’s right, not a single one! In August alone, our Polish and Spanish interpreters put in a total of 1,252 service hours. They are truly the glue that holds patient/provider relations together, and we are so grateful for them every single day!
Moving forward, CommunityHealth will continue to offer remote interpreting services in addition to our usual on-site interpreters. We hope that maintaining this hybrid system will allow for the most freedom and accessibility for our patients.
If you are interested in joining our team as a Spanish or Polish interpreter, sign up for an info session, or visit our volunteer page to learn more!