April 19, 2002

While MGH employees, patients and visitors often recognize hospital volunteers for their services with a grateful gesture or a sincere "thank you," the MGH Volunteer Department received a national recognition recently. The department was honored for one of its programs by the American Hospital Association (AHA) for its "Language Bridge Project." The honor was bestowed at the AHA's annual Awards for Volunteer Excellence held April 8 at the AHA Annual Meeting and Conference in Washington, DC. Dorothy Martin, right, receives the award from Mary Roch Rocklage, chair of the AHA Board of Trustees.

The Hospital Awards for Volunteer Excellence (HAVE) program was established to help hospitals attract and retain volunteers by recognizing outstanding contributions of volunteer programs. The MGH project won in the category of In-Service Hospital Volunteer Program.

The Language Bridge Project was started by Jean Swaim and Dorothy Martin of the Ladies' Visiting Committee along with staff from Interpreter Services, which is a part of the MGH Volunteer Department. The project developed a series of multilingual books to help clinical staff communicate better with non-English-speaking patients. The series of booklets, entitled "Point to Talk," is available in 19 languages — from Creole to German to Spanish. The Volunteer Department has received requests for the booklets from local, regional and national medical centers. Dorothy Martin, right, receives the award from Mary Roch Rocklage, chair of the AHA Board of Trustees.