Close Alert Banner
Skip to Content

Hospital

ResearchFoundation

Text Resize

Regular Large X-Large

Colour Contrast

Default High

Accessible formats and communication supports are available, please contact accessibility@cheo.on.ca

View Our Accessibility Plan

CareersContact UsWebsite FeedbackMyChart
FR
Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario Logo
Contact Us
  • Coming to CHEO
    • Accessibility
    • Amenities
    • Cold and flu season
    • COVID-19
    • Emergency care
    • Family and caregiver supports
    • Family-Centred Rounds
    • Find your doctor
    • Health Records
    • Maps and locations
    • Parking
    • Patient safety
    • Pay your bill
    • Pharmacy (Kidcare)
    • Preparing for your stay or visit
    • Visiting hours and policies
    View our Physician directory page
    Find Your Doctor Directory
  • Clinics, Services & Programs
    • Directory
    • Emergency care
    • IR/Cath and Sim Labs
    • Make a referral
    • Mental health
    • School
    • Surgical care
    • Technology Enabling Child Health Innovations (TECHi)
    • Virtual care
  • Resources and Support
    • A-Z resources
    • Community supports
    • Families First newsletter
    • Family and caregiver supports
    • Indigeneity - Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Social justice
    • Patient Experience
    • Reads2CHEO
    • Transition to adult care
  • Get Involved
    • Co-op program
    • Donate
    • Family Advisory Council
    • Feedback
    • Share your voice
    • Volunteer
    • YouthNet
  • About Us
    • 1Door4Care
    • About CHEO
    • Advocacy
    • Awards, Accreditations and Designations
    • Blog
    • Careers
    • Contact us
    • Disclaimer
    • Find your doctor
    • For community physicians
    • For learners, students and residents
    • For pharmacists
    • Indigeneity - Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Social justice
    • Innovation
    • Kids Come First
    • Leadership
    • Newsroom
    • Partners
    • Privacy and confidentiality
    • Reporting and statistics
    • Research and innovation
    • Social media terms of use
    • Strategy Renewal

CHEO offers innovative on-demand interpretation service – a Canadian first

A child with a cochlear implant, holding a teddy bear

Regular Large X-Large
 
  • Open new window to share this page via Facebook Facebook
  • Open new window to share this page via LinkedIn LinkedIn
  • Open new window to share this page via Twitter Twitter
  • Email this page Email
Email iconSubscribe to News

Contact us

Receive Email Updates...
Email icon Back to Search
Demonstration of Voyce being used by with patient and clinician

May 12, 2022 — OTTAWA — CHEO patients, their families and clinicians now have access to language interpreters, any time of day, seven days a week – all by app in often less than 20 seconds.

CHEO is the first pediatric hospital in Canada to offer faster access to language interpreters using Voyce, a company that provides on-demand language interpretation service for health-care patients.

“Good, clear and accurate communication is essential to delivering exceptional care to any young person who needs it,” says Jill Sullivan, CHEO’s manager of patient experience. “A growing number of the children, youth and families who we work with do not speak English or French as their preferred language – and time matters.”

Canada is one of the most diverse countries in the world and Ottawa is a G-7 capital. The latest available Census figures show approximately 22% of Ottawa residents report their primary language as other than English or French. In any given month, CHEO receives more than 700 requests for medical interpretation.

CHEO trialed Voyce in the Emergency Department before rolling it out more broadly. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with patients and providers reporting high satisfaction with the service.

“The speed of access to interpreters using Voyce fills a real gap for us, especially in the Emergency Department,” adds Sullivan. “Voyce is a great new offering but does not replace our valued in-person interpreters who provide continuity of care and cultural support for families throughout their visits at CHEO.  However, we can’t always get in-person interpretation on-site quickly due to availability and, even when we can, we need to factor in their travel time. Voyce addresses this issue by offering virtual interpretation, shortening the time it takes to connect with an interpreter, sometimes from hours to seconds.

Voyce offers remote video and audio interpretation in more than 240 languages and dialects to health care providers (including American Sign Language). Voyce technology abides by Canadian privacy laws and interpreters are specifically trained to ensure interpretation accuracy and efficiency for health-care settings.

“Not only is Voyce fast and safe, it also almost immediately reduces stress for families, as they can understand the information that is provided to them and know that they are being understood,” explains Sullivan. “Voyce interpreters provide cultural support to families during their visit, giving them a better overall experience.”

The user-friendly app connects patients to the care they need, when they need it. For example, if a family whose primary language is French Creole comes to the CHEO emergency, the triage nurse can use Voyce to find a French Creole-speaking interpreter, often in less than 20 seconds, and have interpretation ready and available to the family.

“When patients enter the walls of a hospital without speaking one of the official languages, they are often at their most vulnerable state, and this is amplified with children and families,” said Andrew Royce, CEO of Voyce. “Together with CHEO, we are able to offer comfort to patients with interpretation from real people who not only understand medical needs but can bring a sense of empathy to every conversation.”

The adoption of Voyce is another example of CHEO’s leadership in digital health care. CHEO was the first Canadian hospital to start adopting the electronic health record EPIC, which Voyce conveniently integrates into, and more recently CHEO became the first Canadian hospital to achieve HIMSS Stage 7 designation cross its services.

– 30 –

Media contact

Jesse Auguste, CHEO 

o. 613-737-7600, ext. 3381 | jauguste@cheo.on.ca

About CHEO

Dedicated to the best life for every child and youth, CHEO is a global leader in pediatric health care and research. Based in Ottawa, CHEO includes a hospital, children’s treatment centre, school and research institute, with satellite services located throughout Eastern Ontario. CHEO provides excellence in complex pediatric care, research and education. We are committed to partnering with families and the community to provide exceptional care — where, when and how it’s needed. CHEO is a partner of the Kids Come First Health Team, a network of partners in Eastern Ontario working to create a high quality, standardized and coordinated system for pediatric health care that is centred around children, youth and their families. Every year, CHEO helps more than 500,000 children and youth from Eastern Ontario, western Quebec, Nunavut and Northern Ontario.

About Voyce

Voyce is a technology company deeply committed to helping people in need facing language barriers, enabling them to easily and quickly communicate and get help. Voyce’s professional and qualified language interpreters provide interpretation across a variety of technology and telehealth platforms in 240 languages and dialects, including American Sign Language. Across the U.S., Canada, U.K. and globally, Voyce supports thousands of sessions a day providing language assistance to those in need.

CHEO

  • Coming to CHEO
  • Clinics, Services & Programs
  • Resources and Support
  • Get Involved
  • About Us

Contact Us

CHEO
401 Smyth Road
Ottawa ON K1H 8L1
Phone: 613-737-7600
Email Us

 

Connect with us

View our Facebook Page View our Twitter Page View our Instagram Page View our YouTube Page View our LinkedIn Page

Sign up for our newsletter

twitter:1248b279-93aa-4ec9-8398-fb5ed28a6413

Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario logo

Copyright 2021 CHEO.

By GHD Digital
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy and confidentiality
  • Website Feedback
  • Contact Us

Staff Portal

Close Old Browser Notification
Browser Compatibility Notification
It appears you are trying to access this site using an outdated browser. As a result, parts of the site may not function properly for you. We recommend updating your browser to its most recent version at your earliest convenience.