For immediate release:
January 2009
Kansas IMIA Representative Named
The International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) has appointed a representative for Kansas as it unveiled its plan to develop a national structure for its organization. The IMIA named Marlene Obermeyer, founder of Culture Advantage Cultural Training, as the IMIA representative for Kansas.
Her role is to represent IMIA members in Kansas and to organize activities that will promote the medical specialization of the interpreter profession. She will also be collaborating with other healthcare organizations in supporting and advocating for the training and certification of medical interpreters. "I see my role as educating the healthcare community that working with trained interpreters is a safety and quality of care issue," said Obermeyer, who is a registered nurse.
With the changing demographics in larger cities and even in smaller rural Kansas communities, nurses and other healthcare providers are increasingly using interpreters in their practice.
Obermeyer is available to speak with local organizations about interpreter training, cultural competency and language access, and to answer questions about the upcoming national certification for medical interpreters.
The International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) is committed to the advancement of professional medical interpreters as the best practice to equitable language access to health care for linguistically diverse patients. Founded in 1986, with currently over 1,600 members, most providing interpreting services in over 100 languages, the IMIA is the oldest and largest medical interpreter association in the world. (http://www.imiaweb.org) Contact information:
imiakansas@gmail.com.
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