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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