Role

The Committee formulates and develops the policies which guide the practice of the Healthcare Interpretation Network in all areas of its operation.

Committee Responsibilities

  • To develop and revise as needed standards on the role of the trained healthcare interpreter in the delivery of services to patient populations with limited proficiency in English.
  • To monitor and revise as needed the By-Laws which govern the operation of the Network.
  • To work with the HIN membership on the dissemination of the HIN”s NSGCIS and identify those organizations and institutions which might work with HIN on advancing the agenda outlined in the NSGCIS.



The HIN Policy Committee launched on November 9th, 2007 the first Canadian National Standard Guide for Community Interpreting, this was done in collaboration with 3 other organizations:

  • The Association de l’industrie de la langue/Language Industry Association – AILIA represents organizations delivering language services (translation, language training, and language technologies) and has been working to raise the standards for the language industry in Canada. It has now taken an active role in supporting Community Interpreting through its Translation Committee. www.ailia.ca
  • Association of Canadian Corporations in Translation and Interpretation – ACCTI represents the private sector. www.accti.org
  • The Critical Link Canada with a national scope includes in its membership the academia, public and private sector. www.criticallink.org

An Ad-Hoc Committee was set-up to create and review the National Guide.  The committee is composed of representatives from the above-mentioned organizations as well as by other parties working within the Community Interpretation field. The NSGCIS has been widely distributed. The Committee's goal is to promote it at the National level.

The Policy Committee has 2 subcommittees: Terminology and Training.

Activities 2008-2009

The Policy Committee has been actively promoting the National Standard Guide to Community Interpreter Services at conferences in Canada and the U.S. A letter was written to the Hon. Minister Chan, Minister of Ontario Citizenship and Immigration requesting a meeting regarding the Language Interpreter Training Program.

With the collaboration of the Membership Committee, a Recruitment Page was created for the HIN website.
A subcommittee on training was formed in order to continue to promote standardization in training and the LITP. Research and request made to unify LITP challenge exam. Interpreters with varying educational background and training could have the possibility of being exempted from between1-4 courses- each case is looked at on an individual basis.  Exams could be taken 2 or 3 at one time.

International impact: LICS is a European certification system that specifies criteria and procedures employed by certification bodies when certifying the services of community interpreting service providers (ISP) based in Vienna, Austria.

On August 15th 2009, LICS released the news that the criteria scheme for their certification is fully based on the “National Standard Guide for Community Interpreting Services, published by the Healthcare Interpretation Network.”

The Policy Committee also developed a Protocols and Procedures document for members of the HIN Board and Committees.

Policy Committee
Healthcare Interpretation Network
Chair

Lisete Figueiredo
Trillium Health Centre
Critical Link Canada

Members at Large

Diana Abraham
Formerly Senior Program Consultant MCI
Founder Critical Link

Lola Bendana
Multi-Languages Corporation

Faith Marcel
Interpreters Niagara / Niagara College

Nancy McInnis
Assocaition of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario  ATIO President


email:  policy@healthcareinterpretationnetwork.ca
Members of the Board

Elizabeth Abraham
University Health Network

Lisete Figueiredo
Trillium Health Centre
Critical Link Canada

Julio Montero
Able Translations
Members at Large

Bonnie Pataran
Mohawk College