Recently we had a walk in new patient in need of care at Cabrini Clinic. He had just come from the ER and was in a lot of pain. The man was undocumented, uninsured, had stage 4 cancer and had been refused medical care because of his undocumented status. By the time he got to Cabrini Clinic, his cancer was too advanced for chemotherapy, and the doctor decided he should go into Hospice. Another case was an undocumented dad who came to Most Holy Trinity Church Rectory for help. He needed kidney dialysis to stay alive, but without insurance it cost $3,000 per session, every other day. Our pastor, Fr. Russ referred him to Cabrini Clinic to help him access dialysis, but we found that most of the dialysis is done by for-profit companies, and they will not accept a charity case due to the high cost of treatment. These are only two stories about the injustices that people without insurance-either with or without documents-face in this country every day.
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| Mercy Volunteer Corps community in Detroit, (Lto R) Colleen, Molly, Brit, Amy, Xochitl |
People die
every day of uninsurance. It has been a
very eye opening experience being at Cabrini Clinic. Working at the front desk I am on the front
of the lines and see the injustices in the health care system the US has. Every day I get phone calls from people that
want to become a patient at the clinic and most of the time I have to turn them
down because we cannot see everybody.
New patient appointments are always booked months ahead of time, as are
all other free clinics in Detroit. I
want to help everyone but the reality is I can’t.
Through
this year as a Mercy Volunteer I have developed a passion for health care
reform that I did not have before, mostly because I did not have the prior
knowledge. I have also become
increasingly aware of Immigrant’s rights and have become involved with
Immigration Reform groups because I serve so many undocumented clients and want
to be more informed. There are 200,000
uninsured residents of Detroit, which is 1/3 of the city’s population, and I am
happy to be a part of Cabrini Clinic who is the medical home to almost 1,000. Health care is a human right, people have
value and we can’t just let them die.
Xochitl Rocha - Cabrini Clinic - Detroit, MI
