Immigration and health care debate hits Vallejo
I am a member of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Benicia Chamber of Commerce. We periodically invite federal and Solano County legislators and their aides to our committee meetings to update us on local issues that impact business owners and residents of Benicia. I enjoy being on the committee because I get a real feel for what is happening in the city.
On Wednesday, September 9, the legislative aides for Congressman George Miller and Solano County Supervisor Linda Seifert spoke at our meeting. One of the issues they spoke about was the existence of La Clinica North Vallejo. The health clinic was established in November 2008 to provide urgent and primary care to the community's low income and uninsured population. The clinic is situated across the street from Sutter Solano Hospital and is funded in part by Sutter Solano, Kaiser Vallejo and Solano County. The idea behind the establishment of the clinic and the location of the clinic was to provide care for patients who were going to the emergency room in the hospitals. It is more cost effective for people to go to a clinic and receive preventive care than to show up at an emergency room for something that could have been prevented. Some of the clients who I see in my Benicia Social Security practice have been receiving care at La Clinica Vallejo so I was excited to hear about it.
After the meeting I returned to my office and decided to read more about La Clinica North Vallejo. What I learned, surprised me. I did not know that it has become the focus of a debate about illegal immigration. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, the clinic has been criticized for providing care to undocumented residents. A "watchdog group" (unidentified in the article) has released a report advising the county that the clinic should only serve residents who have proof of citizenship or legal residency. According to the article, the County board of supervisors and the County health director have 90 days to respond to their report.
My personal view is that the clinic is not in a position and should not be in a position to determine the immigration status of potential patients. Preventive care benefits us all. If all of the hype is true about the seriousness of the H1N1 flu virus, we will not be healthier if someone is denied a flu shot or care because he or she is undocumented.
I called Linda Seifert's office this morning and learned that this issue will be heard by the Solano County Board of Supervisors at their meeting scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on September 22, 2009. The Board meets at 675 Texas Street, Fairfield, California. I will be there! I hope that Solano County residents concerned about the issue will be there as well.
