sinai in the news
What is IVIN?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2008
The Illinois Video Interpreter Network (aka IVIN) makes health-related communications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, as well as communications for individuals who do not speak English, simple and accessible 24/7.
Here is a scenario. It is the middle of the night and a Deaf or Hard of Hearing parent has a very, very sick child. The parent takes the child to the nearest Emergency Department for care and needs to be able to communicate to caregivers there the history of the child’s illness as well as allergies and other health history items. The parent’s primary language is ASL. The hospital does not have an ASL interpreter on duty at 3:00 a.m. but does have a video camera and computer screen as well as a connection to IVIN. The parent stands in front of the camera and signs the child’s health history and symptoms and an interpreter who says the ASL message for listening Emergency Department personnel.
Sinai Health System is proud to be a leader in promoting and supporting IVIN and Mount Sinai Hospital is the first in Illinois to be part of IVIN. For Siani and other organizations IVIN enables a new level of ADA compliance and a new level of serving patients. Says patient Willis Jenkins, "It is like having an interpreter without having to wait. For a deaf person, it makes things easier."
Located on the west side of Chicago, Sinai Health System includes three hospitals-- Mount Sinai Hospital, Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, and Sinai Children’s Hospital—as well as Sinai Community Institute, Sinai Urban Health Institute, and Sinai Medical Group. Sinai began ninety years ago as a way for Eastern European Jewish immigrants to receive health care and as a place where Jewish physicians could practice. Today Sinai continues to focus on the needs of its communities, now largely Latino and African American, and strives to achieve the vision of being a national model for urban healthcare.
For additional information contact Dianne Hunter, Director of Public Relations and Communications, 773.257.5228
