Title
Authorize the Purchasing Manager for Natividad Medical Center (NMC) to execute Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement (A-12028) with Health Care Interpreter Network for Shared Interpreter Services at NMC, extending the Agreement to June 30, 2013 and adding $60,000 for a revised total Agreement amount not to exceed $190,000 in the aggregate.
Body
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended the Board of Supervisors authorize the Purchasing Manager for Natividad Medical Center (NMC) to execute Amendment No. 2 to the Agreement (A-12028) with Health Care Interpreter Network for Shared Interpreter Services at NMC, extending the Agreement to June 30, 2013 and adding $60,000 for a revised total Agreement amount not to exceed $190,000 in the aggregate.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Joint Commission standards, California and Federal laws regulate equal access to healthcare for all patients. Hospitals have a legal obligation to ensure language access for their patients. To reduce linguistic barriers faced by many of NMC’s patients in seeking and obtaining healthcare, NMC has formed agreements with Monterey Language Services (“MLS”), Cyracom, and The Health Care Interpreter Network (HCIN). MLS provides in-person language interpretation as well as interpretation services in several indigenous Mexican languages. Cyracom provide telephonic language interpretation services in 170 languages, including American Sign Language (ASL).
HCIN is a cooperative of California hospitals and health care providers, which, through an automated video/voice call center system, allows the sharing at competitive rates of trained healthcare interpreters on staff at HCIN’s member hospitals, including several county hospitals. Videoconferencing and telephonic devices allow each member hospital to connect on the HCIN system within seconds to an interpreter, located either at its own hospital or one of the other colleague hospitals, in one of fifteen languages, including ASL.
NMC entered into an agreement (PO # ...
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