For undocumented immigrants, finding
health care can be difficult.
Treatment at home may be the best option for many
illnesses, and federally qualified health centers, such as the Albert Galvan
Health Clinic in North Fort Worth, can become medical homes. For undocumented immigrants, finding
health care can be difficult. Treatment at home may be the best option for many
illnesses, and federally qualified health centers, such as the Albert Galvan
Health Clinic in North Fort Worth, can become medical homes. When it comes to the hospital system,
though, the health care industry can be intimidating, according to those who
work in or study hospital systems. There are various reasons for this, such as
possible language barriers, fear of being turned in, misconceptions about
getting care, but how an undocumented patient is cared for largely depends on
the individual health care system. In Tarrant County, Texas Health
Resources, the Baylor Health Care System and JPS Health Network are the large
hospital systems that frequently provide care to undocumented patients who are
a part of the greater Fort Worth community. Each has its own policy for how to
deal with these patients, but being Texas hospitals &mdash and being hospitals in
part of a Metroplex that is an international melting pot &mdash means they may see
these patients more than health systems in other states without large
international populations. Richard Kurz, dean of the School of
Public Health at the UNT Health Science Center, said there is no official
ranking of how well each state treats undocumented patients, but states like
Texas, California, New York and Illinois, with large immigrant populations,
most commonly deal with the issues surrounding undocumented patients.
As the health care communities look for
ways to better serve these patients while still serving U.S. citizens,
undocumented patients are faced with going through a health care system that
may be very different from the system in the country they grew up with. Throw
in possible language problems and worries that hospital officials will contact
the Immigration and Naturalization Service and have patients deported, and
finding care in the U.S. can be daunting.