Since TAHIT’s foundation in 2004, its members have been spreading the word about legislative requirements concerning language access in healthcare settings and the need for qualified interpreters. These efforts culminated on June 19th, 2009 when Governor Rick Perry signed a bill establishing a committee to oversee healthcare interpreter & translator qualifications in the state of Texas.  The underlying goal of this bill is to improve access to health services and quality of such services for people with limited English proficiency.

Click here to download your copy of a case study documenting our efforts to support legislation that promotes effective communication and meaningful access to health care for the 6.8 million Texas residents that speak a language other than English at home.

I just finished reading through the TAHIT Case Study on Healthcare Interpreter Legislation in Texas, and I want to thank you for taking the effort to put that together.  The case study is just the sort of step-by-step description I've wanted for a long time.  It's very helpful to me and I will share it with the rest of the Louisiana Language Access Coalition.  This will help our coalition tremendously, and particularly our Health subcommittee right now as we are gearing up to begin down this road.

Katrina Badger, MPH, GSW

Director of Operations

Health and Language Access Program Manager