Culturesmart
to Cease Offering Its Medical
Interpreter Training Program through
the HPHC Foundation
December 31, 2005
QUINCY – After an 11-year
collaborative partnership with the
Institute for Linguistic and Cultural
Skills (ILCS) of the Harvard Pilgrim
Health Care Foundation, Culturesmart
and ILCS have decided not to renew
their agreement for 2006.
This is a significant event for
Culturesmart as it will allow the
organization to focus its resources
on continually improving its offerings
and making those available to healthcare
organizations nationally. “Our
first order of the day will be to
completely revamp our main offering
and by far, the most popular offering,
the 40-Hour Medical Interpreter
Training Program.” says Greg
Figaro, CEO and Founder of Culturesmart.
This program was last updated in
2002 and was then tailored to the
HPHC network.
Figaro adds, “This split
also creates an opportunity for
Culturesmart to further solidify
the Culturesmart brand by offering
its services exclusively under the
Culturesmart name.” The company
was founded in 1991 and since 1994
has provided most of its services
through HPHC. Over the years, Culturesmart
has developed a solid reputation
in the areas of interpreter training
and development of effective training
curricula for interpreters. Culturesmart
will continue to offer its multilingual
interpreter training program onsite
and directly to hospitals, health
centers and other health care organizations.
The HPHC-Culturesmart alliance
was very beneficial to both organizations.
It provided the resources that allowed
Culturesmart to develop one of the
most reputable programs in the country
and offer those through the HPHC
Foundation. At the same time, the
HPHC Foundation could focus on its
core competencies of promoting health
and preventing disease through grant
funding and community partnerships.
Culturesmart is a privately held
organization that has been specializing
in medical interpreting since 1991.
We devote our work to reducing linguistic
and cultural barriers to quality
healthcare. We offer a series of
consulting services and customized
training programs that seek to improve
communications between providers
and their culturally and linguistically
diverse patients.
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