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Question: Me and some students at City College of San Francisco in the Healthcare Interpreter Certification Program were looking to facilitate langusge access to Limited English Proficiency (L.E.P.) Patients in San Francisco. We wanted to do this by educating healthcare providers and helping them comply with SB 853 as well as rising patient awareness. In helping healthcare providers comply with SB 583, we would create a non-profit medical interpreting agency very much like ACCLAH in Alameda County, but for San Francisco. This non-profit would have as goals educating healthcare providers, raise patient awareness, screen interpreters until the national medical interpreter certificate process is in place and act as a broker between healthcare providers and our pool of medical interpreters. A big percentage of the reimbursement received will paid to the medical interpreter and the rest to maintaining an active presence in the community. Our question would be, is there such an effort already in place? If there is, who are they and how can we join them. If there is none, can you provide any suggestions as to how we can go about creating one?
Answer: Thank you for contacting Ask an Advisor. It sounds like your issue is very important and it is reasonable to check and see who else has similar concerns and even may have an intervention already operating. Unfortunately, we do not know the details of your community. If you determine that you want to form a non-profit organization 501c3, the CTB website has specific step-by-step info for assisting you. In particular, look at the "Do the Work" and the "Use Promising Approaches" tabs located on the home page. Each of these have links to step-by-step tasks, checklists, and overviews of common issues in starting organizations. You will also need some legal assistance to formally incorporate as a non-profit. Frequently law firms will offer this service for free as pro bono work. If there are law firms already focused on issues of health care or immigration, they may know whether there is already such a service available in the Bay Area. Thank you again for contacting Ask an Advisor and CTB. All the best in your work.
Question Date: Thu, 04/02/2009