Saturday, June 7, 2008

Who Spends $3.5 Million Annually on Interpreters?

Boston Medical Center (BMC), that's who. The interpreting services department boasts 9 staff interpreters who help 194,000 limited English proficient patients each year. BMC also offers telephone and video interpreting.

Some other interesting stats:

-BMC has three video-conference machines, each worth about $7,000.
-Video interpreting costs around $3 to $4 per minute.
-Staff interpreters start at $18 per hour.
-Regular contractors make $75 per hour.
-Difficult-to-find languages can earn $150 per hour.
-High-demand languages include: Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean, Portuguese and Vietnamese.

Read the full story from Eduardo A. de Oliveira here.

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