Gael, a refugee from Venezuela, undergoes an exam at Cook County Health’s northwest side clinic in Chicago last week. The boy traveled with his mother, Emili, as refugees. immigrants like those families.
Manuel Martinez/WBEZ
Immigrants sent to Chicago since last summer arrive with very little: little food, few possessions and, for many, little or no access to physical care as long as they are not forgotten despite their perilous journeys.
Dr. Denise Cunill recalled one of the families of 4 who arrived at Cook County Health’s new nursing home clinic in September with flip-flops worn on their feet.
As Cunill prepared for a regime checkup and asked the youths to put on gowns, the teen among them apologized: She hadn’t showered, she told the doctor. But I was grateful for the attention. The teenager couldn’t the last time she saw a doctor, Cunill recalls, tearing the memory apart.
Caring for immigrants like this circle of relatives, a major project of Cook County Health, “enveloped my soul,” said Cunill, herself the daughter of an immigrant.
Cunill explains how the fitness formula addressed the immediacy of immigrants to Chicago: vaccines to prepare young people new to that country for school, medications for untreated wounds and chronic diseases, and even surgery.
Dr Denise Cunill
cookcountyhealth. org
Cunill, a pediatrician for 25 years, said she has long cared for the migrant population, but with this volume. Providers see 60 to 90 patients per day, which is reaching county clinic capacity.
He is about to ride.
About nine months after the asylum clinic operation, Cook County Health is bracing for a currency storm, facing a drop in profits of at least $40 million this year.
There are a number of monetary problems. There is the charge of running the migrant clinic and the option that more fitness will be needed as this population continues to grow. The state stopped paying cash to the clinic in February.
And now the county is bracing for a flood of low-income patients who squander their Medicaid public fitness insurance but still need a remedy and perhaps have no way to pay. In fact, after a three-year pause from the pandemic, the state is back. require others to prove they are eligible for Medicaid.
Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha Jr. and his family head into the 2024 budget season and take all of this into account.
“We’re not in a position to say we’re not going to worry about the other people at our door,” Rocha said at a recent news conference. “We’re going to do what we have to do, but it has a result and a cost. “
Cook County Health is one of the largest public fitness systems in the country, with a legacy and project to treat patients who may or may not pay.
It’s a position where immigrants have long sought care, which is reflected in the doctors and nurses who care for them. The fitness formula includes two hospitals, the iconic John H. Stroger Jr. on the Near West Side and Provident on the South Side, and a network of clinics surrounding the city and suburbs.
About 10,000 immigrants have been sent to Chicago since last summer.
Cook County Health’s northwest side clinic is the number one provider of health care for migrants and cares for them a day or two after they arrive in town. So far, the clinic has treated more than 6500 migrants. Almost 30% were children.
Sol Del Mar and her son Cuiman, refugees from Venezuela, expect to be noticed through a physical exam at Cook County Health’s Northwest Side clinic in Chicago last week.
Manuel Martinez/WBEZ
Recently, at the clinic, the waiting room was filled with other people waiting for appointments.
Paola Áñez, 26, who is pregnant, spent the afternoon there with her 5-year-old daughter. Through a translator, she described an eight-month adventure from Peru to Chicago, crossing the jungle, being deported and crossing the river. Big in desperation before being arrested.
That day, they won exams and vaccinations.
“They did all the tests,” Anez said through a translator. “They did everything, all the checks on me. “
Now she, her daughter and her husband are staying in a shelter after spending two weeks in a Chicago police station, sleeping on the floor.
The county has spent about $20 million on the clinic, which includes staffing, on-site testing and treatment, as well as patients who want more specialized care at Stroger Hospital.
However, the state has stopped filling the position of beloved transient nurses at the clinic. A spokeswoman for Gov. J. B. Pritzker did not respond to questions.
County Council Speaker Toni Preckwinkle lobbied Springfield state lawmakers for at least $28 million to cover the remainder of the state’s fiscal year through June 30 and next year’s costs. The county expects even more asylum seekers in the coming months.
The proposed state budget for next year includes about $42 million for Chicapass and Cook County with asylum seekers, but it’s unclear how much will happen for either.
Meanwhile, Cook County Health doesn’t know how many other people may lose Medicaid coverage, but says it may translate into a loss of about $40 million.
All of this comes at a time when the fitness formula over the past five years has progressed to improve its results. The county had reduced the amount of health care it provided without reimbursement by about 60 percent, or $345 million, after years of sounding the alarm about the rise of so-called unpaid care. Much of the sharp drop is due to COVID-19: The public has been implored to hospitals to make room for virus patients, while others have qualified and remained on Medicaid.
Israel Rocha Jr. , CEO of Cook County Health, speaks as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle listens at a news conference at Provident Hospital last year.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times Archive
In an interview with WBEZ, Rocha said he was looking at what expensive projects or contracts could be delayed to make up for the economic shortfall. to be put on hold.
The projected shortfall in Medicaid investment translates into the salaries of about 160 doctors or 400 nurses, an example of the extent to which $40 million goes to Cook County Health, where staffing is already in dispute, Rocha said. Not having enough providers can be a trickle down to patients, he said.
The fitness formula expects part of the $40 million loss.
Emili and her son Gael wait for doctors to get a checkup at Cook County Health’s northwest side clinic in Chicago last week. The mother and son arrived here from Venezuela.
Manuel Martinez/WBEZ
There are some bright spots. The fitness care formula hopes to get just about $7 million from the state for asylum seekers eligible for Illinois’ fitness insurance programs, and one for undocumented immigrants.
When asked if he would ask the county for an investment beyond an annual grant that the fitness formula receives, Rocha has not yet responded.
“I’m still optimistic,” Rocha said. I hope the history of the paintings we make and the popularity of the effect it has on our community. . . Inspire other people to want to help us. “
Kristen Schorsch covers the public and Cook County for WBEZ.