Helping Where It Hurts : Mobile Medical Unit Offers Primary Care to Those Too Poor to Afford a Trip to the Doctor’s Office, Many of Whom Are Caught in a Web of Social Ills : JOSE L. VARGAS

The idea behind the mobile medical units is to bring health care to people who historically have had little or no access to preventive health care. We provide pediatric care, immunization, prenatal care and primary care for kids and adults. We recently acquired a radiology unit where we will provide mammograms for women. We’re also expecting to open a dental care unit for the homeless.

A lot of homeless clients have cuts, gunshot wounds, or serious illnesses that develop because they have no access to health care. These are intelligent people. They know they have an illness, but if you don’t have transportation to get to a clinic, or if you lack the money, you don’t get the care.

I had a 35-year-old man who was very low-income. He was working once or twice a week and had three kids. He needed to see a dentist because his teeth were hurting but since he didn’t have the money he got some pliers and tried to pull out his teeth. Instead, he cracked his tooth, so things were worse. Since he didn’t have any medication, he was taking tequila to numb the gums. He found out about our services and got the proper care.

I keep up with the Clinton Administration and the plans for national insurance and I would like to see something like that. But this is a complex situation because you are talking about social ills that are intertwined. You’re talking about unemployment, underemployment, the need for child care and after-school programs and other social ills that need to be addressed along with providing health care to these people.

At my site, the Paradise Market at 52nd Street and Broadway, the ethnic breakdown is about 85% Latino and the rest is African-American. There are pockets of whites and Asians at other sites. While many African-Americans have Medi-Cal or other insurance, we see a lot of immigrants who have no insurance. Some of their kids were born here so they have Medi-Cal, but their parents are from El Salvador or Mexico and have no insurance. The Paradise Market has served about 1,500 people since it opened last July.

Some of the Latinos that we see are in the process of legalizing their status but 40% to 50% are undocumented. Those are the ones I pay most attention to because they need the most help. They hear all these rumors that if they go to a hospital or clinic, their names will be given to immigration authorities. We try to make them feel at home and alleviate some of their fears.

Another problem is money. Since they’ve just arrived, they’re focusing their energy on getting food and a job. If they have $30 in their pocket, they would rather buy food than medicine. Since they’re new here, they’re not aware of the services available to them. Even people who are legal and have been here for several years aren’t aware that there may be services right in the neighborhood.

The most common problems we see at Paradise Market are--for kids--fevers, colds, coughs.

For adults the main problems are upper-respiratory infections, hypertension, diabetes, ear and throat infections and gastrointestinal disturbances like ulcers and stomach aches.

We see a lot of people with high cholesterol and we provide diagnostic testing for blood pressure and cholesterol. There have been cases of people coming in with numbness in their arms and they didn’t know that their blood pressure was so high. Some of these people are walking time bombs.

But they know they can come to Paradise Market--even though they don’t have any money.