Your help is requested....

[Guest guest]

As I hope you all know, the Call for Health line, adminstered by NCFH

helps to secure access to care for Migrant Patients when all other

resources have been exhausted. Described below is a very difficult case

that we have not been able to resolve, for an undocumented 19 year old

pregnant patient located in Decatur Alabama.

We know that there are thousands of patients like this one who need

help, do you have any suggestions as to how we can help this one?

On the 21st of May the Call for Health Program received a call from a

19 year old migrant

farmwoker from Decatur, AL. She was looking for prenatal care in her

area. She is hispanic, undocumented, and is 8 months pregnant. Her last

and only prenatal appointment was in Florida last December.

We have called the Decatur Primary Health Center they do not provide

prenatal

care. I called the Health Dept. of Molten Co. (Decatur) they said they

do not se prenatal patients either and referred me to the only two

private providers were they send all their prenatal patients. We also

called

them. The Women's Health of Decatur said they could not see the patient

because she was to far along her pregnancy and would mean to much

liability to see her. The other private center called The Mcain Center

asked if she was hispanic, and if so she would have to pay $1000 dollars

up front in the first visit, that would cover her pregnancy and

delivery, she would also have to apply for Emergency Medicaid after the

delivery. At the Mcain center I talked with Golby and offered to

pay 600 dollars for them to see the patient, she replied that they were

not a charity care place and that they would need the full 1000 dollars

to see her.

I also called Co. Health Dept. they said they do see prenatal,

but are not taking new patients, besides this would be considered a high

risk case and they do not see high risk pregnancies.

I talked with the Southern Consortium, the social work Director in

Co., with the Director of Family Health Services, and with the

Nursing Director at Co. They all told me that it certainly is a

tragedy but this patient has no other options than to go to the

emergency room if she feels ill or ready to deliver.

We did manage to get her to a WIC appointment.

Do you have any ideas?--

--

Bobbi Ryder

CEO

National Center for Farmworker Health

1770 FM 967

Buda, TX 78610

512.312.2700, ext. 201

512.312.2600 (fax)

http://www.ncfh.org