Two things happened this week. They weren’t really aware of each other’s existence, but they had a mutual impact. Something like spring and allergies.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus under Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez announced its priorities for the Health and Environment Task Force in the 111th Congress.
And a mildly ill – non-Hispanic resident of the 12th District, paid a visit to the Williamsburg Health Center in Brooklyn.
Being sick sucks. No matter what your ethnicity is.
On a warm spring Tuesday, she schlepped her sweatpants-influenza-ish- self all the way to the closest clinic. “It’s better to be on the safe side,” her mother always said. Even if that side is on the South Side of the neighborhood, 16 blocks away.
The CHC’s announcement came just in time, the recent visit to the doctor shows.
In the heart of the Hassidic neighborhood, signs in both Yiddish and Spanish advise on hygiene and health rules. The Orthodox woman at the reception desk, tried to be efficient and sympathetic. It wasn’t easy as she was alternating signing in patients and answering a constant stream of phone calls.
The waiting area that only minutes earlier was filled with nothing but Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s voice, talking about beets and cholesterol on the health channel, soon became crowded with real people and coughs.
One floor higher and 40 minutes later it was already a zoo.
A nurse – THE nurse – was hidden under a pile of files, medical records, manually filling out the paper work.
When the door opened the nurse mumbled, “They’re trying to make us quit our job,” an answer to one’s question – why are you here by yourself?
Then, she put an ad-hock sign on the door: Please knock once and take a sit.
There were no sits available.
About a dozen chairs were occupied (plus few kids running around). Young parents, babies, an elderly women – all Spanish speaking. Hispanics were on the other side as well, along with Afro-American, Asian, Jewish, and Indian doctors and nurses. A real hospital melting bed pan.
By the end of your visit you wished you had gone to work.
The lack of IT or manpower at health facilities is what the CHC Task Force will try to cure this year.
Here are selected examples of what The Health and the Environment Task Force priorities include:
- Community Health Centers: Latinos comprise 34.8% of health center users. We support the development and expansion of community and migrant health centers and increasing funding for Federally Qualified Health Centers.
- Health IT. We support access to appropriate incentives to enable health care providers in low-income and medically underserved communities to move forward in adopting HIT.
- Expansion of the Primary Health Care Workforce. We support short term programs and policies to address immediate primary care and nursing workforce needs.
Congresswoman Velazquez should care. Not only as the chair of the CHC but also because the health industry is keeping her in good shape.
“Health Professionals” is the leading industry in donating to her 2010 campaign with $33,500, according to Opensecrets.com (Dentists $7,5000, Orthodontist with $5,000 and optometrists $5,000).
Although a very energetic supporter of Health Care, Nydia Velazquez’s legislative charts show that health issues were ill treated in the last decade.
With no major legislation record, some efforts can be traced, but not many. A million dollar program here, $500,000 health initiative there, Velazquez targeted AIDS, asthma and Obesity in Brooklyn’s Hispanic community. But no significant breakthrough on file.
Velazquez should follow the wise maternal advice and not neglect her health initiatives – because even just a minor inconvenience can lead to a more serious ailment – if not treated with care.
Across the nation, about 300 million people are marking this time of year a special occasion. Unlike Easter or Passover, this holiday is celebrated only once every ten years, and in its spirit everyone’s participation is more than welcomed.