Brant Community acquires Voyce for translation

BRANTFORD, Ont. – Last summer, the Brant Community Healthcare System (Brantford General Hospital and The Willett, Paris) acquired the Voyce instant translation system to help patients, families, and hospital staff speak with each other. Like other communities across the country, Brantford and Paris, Ontario are attracting new Canadians, many of whom are not yet fluent in English.

“Brantford and the County of Brant is growing and becoming more diverse,” said Alden Leung (pictured), who works in the Quality, Risk, and Patient Relations department. “We sought out a translation service called Voyce that provides live interpreters on demand whenever patients and staff need assistance. Voyce professionals are medically trained and provide service twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,” Leung said.

Hospital staff access Voyce using one of six mobile devices throughout both the Brantford General and Willett hospitals. Typically, within seconds, an expert interpreter appears on a screen, which is important in a hospital.

“We can access more than 240 languages and dialects, including Indigenous languages and American Sign Language,” Leung said. “The translators convey cultural nuance and complex medical terms with sensitivity.”

In the first six months of the Voyce Translation Service, the most popular languages required at BGH and Willett are Spanish, Polish, Arabic, Ukrainian, and French. To date, 50 different languages have been accessed through Voyce translators, most often in the BGH Emergency Department.

Linda Foster is a registered nurse and has worked in the BGH Emergency Department for 20 years. “Time is very important for many patients in the emergency department and Voyce is a game changer,” she said.

“Instantly, the patient and I and the interpreter appear on the screen.”

Foster recalled a young man in his twenties being treated in the BGH Emergency Department. “He was new to Canada and still learning English. He was so excited and relieved when the interpreter helped us with the language barrier.”

In just six months of the new service, interpreters have assisted on over 250 occasions in the emergency department, provided support another 200 times in the emergency department’s ambulatory assessment area, and helped with 50 pediatric department patients.

Statistics show that the average wait time to connect with an interpreter is 30 seconds.

It is not only the hospital staff that appreciates the new translation service, but also patients and families. “Once they see all of us on the screen together and are able to communicate in their native tongue, it’s like a lightbulb going off in their head. They realize quickly that we can speak their language, which opens up dialogue to assessing and treating,” Foster said.

Source: Gary Chalk, Brant Community Healthcare System.