WEBVTT - The Clinic 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:04.320 Hey, hey, hey, hey, get us. Latino USA is celebrating 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:08.200 thirty years today, Ain't that amos? And we would love 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:10.960 to hear from you. Dear listener, Do you want to 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.280 share with us exactly what Latino USA has meant to you? 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.240 Do you have a birthday wish for us? Leave us 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:21.239 a voicemail at six four six five seven to one 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:25.760 one two two four. That's six four six five seven 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.680 to one one two two four, and we might feature 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:32.920 your message in an upcoming show, grass Yas. This is 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:37.040 Latino USA, the radio journal of news and Kurture's Latino USA. 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:41.239 Let us Latino USA. I'm Maria Inojosa. We bring you 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:45.120 stories that are underreported but that mattered to you, overlooked 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:46.920 by the rest of the media, and while the country 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:48.960 is struggling to deal with these we listen to the 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:52.760 stories of black and Latinos. Studios United, Latino Front, a 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:57.960 cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront of the movement. I'm 0:00:57.960 --> 0:00:59.000 Maria Inojosa. 0:00:59.280 --> 0:00:59.920 Nose Bayan. 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:05.520 Hey, Latino USA, listener, here's a show from our archives. 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:08.640 For this episode of Latino USA, We're going to do 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:12.640 something a little bit different. Normally, when we interview people 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.959 who speak Spanish. We translate all of those interviews into English, 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:19.320 but today we've decided not to translate any of the Spanish. 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:23.440 We wanted to preserve the voices and the people in 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:26.840 the way that they are naturally conveyed. We'd like to 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:30.360 ask you to listen, even if you don't understand every word, 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:33.120 because we think there's a lot you're going to get 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:36.480 from this multi lingual story. If you like a transcript 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.200 of this with all of the audio translated, you can 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.720 find it online at latinousa dot org. And we should 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.120 mention that this story could be disturbing for some of 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:48.360 our listeners. Here's our reporting. 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:58.120 In a health clinic in Chicago, Marta Flores is receiving. 0:01:57.760 --> 0:01:59.360 Some news chom. 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:05.360 Her doctor walks into the exam room and she barely 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:07.920 closes the door before she gets right to it. 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:22.959 Squila and toss see. 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:27.640 Martha has clearly taken aback. The doctor tells her her 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:29.959 high blood sugar means something else. 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:48.760 And tossnostico de diabetiss see per controla. 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:53.000 This is a new diagnosis from Martha, but she's been 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.600 coming to this clinic for ten years. She's sixty six 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:58.600 years old and originally from Al Salvador. 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:01.760 Yeah. 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:07.120 Well, Martha doesn't say much or ask many questions after 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.760 she hears that she has diabetes, but after the physical exam, 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:12.679 she seems to get less calm. 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:44.360 Comp we know, Whensa, it's a c. 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.120 Marta is also worried about what her daughter will say 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:48.760 when she hears about her diagnosis. 0:03:51.760 --> 0:04:01.880 Okay, I be an rico mia. 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:08.160 Diabetes can be genetic, but it can also be brought 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:10.680 on by diet, especially sugary drinks. 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:17.560 A no. 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:25.960 Martha says that when she sits down to eat, she 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.640 forgets all about what the doctors tell her she should 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:29.039 be eating. 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.040 Media, because. 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.599 Then Martha begins to listen to me all of her 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:38.760 favorite foods. 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:42.360 La banana jos. 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:44.440 Include. 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:49.640 She opens her purse and shows me the banana she 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:59.600 has stashed there, and I want to hear more about 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:03.000 her banana fanaticism, but we're interrupted by her cell phone. 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:08.560 Buzzy Dana Gisa, Hello, ladies. 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:10.800 It's Martha's daughter calling to see when she can pick 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:12.400 her up, and Martha gives her. 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:17.800 The Newsma Notitia, the goat. 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:28.080 Is from Fudromedia and pr X It's Latino Usa. I'm 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:39.039 Maria nojosa and today off to the doctor's office. Going 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.520 to see the doctor is almost always a stressful and 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:46.560 vulnerable experience. It's a place where your anxieties about your 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:49.679 body and your life are super heightened, and where everything 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:53.200 can change with just a few words from your doctor. 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:59.040 Undocumented people generally can't access insurance and so their healthcare 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.640 options are very limited, but one of the places they 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:07.520 can go are free health clinics. Free clinics have only 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.520 been around in the United States. Starting in the nineteen 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:14.400 sixties and seventies, there were places that popped up to 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.400 deal with the growing number of young people who were runaways, 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:19.880 or uninsured or addicted to drugs. 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:22.080 What's a free clinic. 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.200 It's where our growing up children go for help when 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.039 they can't or won't come home. 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.400 The first one was the hate Ashbury Free Clinic, which 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.400 came to be after a flood of young people ended 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:37.159 up in San Francisco for the Summer of Love. 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:41.200 Dentists, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals are here as volunteers. 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:44.920 They treat all the embarrassing ailments of the youngsterdents to 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:50.919 nereal disease, drug complaints, hepatitis from shooting drugs with dirty needles, 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:55.720 pregnancy problems here, for example, was developed that form of 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.760 teenage group therapy where the kids just talk out their emotion. 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:02.599 Oh yeah, thank god that you don't think I felt 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:04.440 that her so she said she couldn't see me. 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:05.360 Oh yeah. 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.720 Today there are twenty eight million uninsured people in the 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:14.760 United States, and free clinics can often be their only 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:18.200 safety inn We're going to spend time in one of 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.760 those clinics. In fact, it's the largest free health clinic 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.960 in the United States. It's called Community Health in Chicago, 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:32.200 and it only serves people who don't have health insurance. Now, 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.720 it's almost impossible for journalists to get behind the scenes 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:39.040 access to medical centers because there are a lot of laws, 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:43.520 and rightly so, that protect patients privacy. So when Community 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:46.200 Health in Chicago told us that they would give us 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.280 full access to their facilities, we saw this as a 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:52.920 rare opportunity to observe the daily dramas that unfold there. 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.000 We spent three days sitting in on doctors exams and 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.320 talking with patients and staff and all of this to 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.880 try to capture or a snapshot of how undocumented life 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:09.440 manifests itself both physically and mentally. Now, at the beginning 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:13.120 of this show, you heard producer Sophia Palisa ka this 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:17.200 past summer, she flew to Chicago along with producer Antonia, 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:20.400 and Antonia is going to take it from here. 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:23.120 Thanks Dramos. 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.920 The clinic is located in Chicago's Ukrainian Village, a quiet 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:32.280 residential neighborhood. It takes Gabriel do Mingez half an hour 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:34.240 by car to get to the clinic every morning. 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:35.120 That is logo. 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.760 Gabriel is the custodian at Community Health and he is 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:47.760 in charge of opening the clinics unassuming glass stores every 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:48.920 day around eight o'clock. 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:52.800 Aki in directa meenteno. 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:56.200 Gabriel has a kind face transition lenses and a lot 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:58.280 of tools hanging off of his belt loop so. 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:03.800 The key. 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.320 He leads me inside the building and I thank him 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:08.880 for letting me in, But as soon as I start 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:11.240 to leave in search of the front desk, he stops me. 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.440 He lets me know that he's like me. He documents 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:16.480 the world, Yeah, does your participate? 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:21.720 He pulls up Facebook to show me videos he took 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:25.320 of his zoomba classes. He even bought a stabilizer which 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:27.080 makes the videos look very professional. 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:41.280 He's implemented. 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:42.920 See the pro. 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:54.800 Over the next three days, we meet a lot of characters. Okay, 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:55.400 to go do that? 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:55.960 Do you have time? 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:57.560 Yeah, the patient's not here. 0:09:57.520 --> 0:09:58.599 Yes, so I leave you. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.640 Yeah, yeah, I know, sorry about and you are. 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:09.599 If you were to take a god's eye view of 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:12.400 the clinic while my fellow producer, Sophia and I spent 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:15.200 time there, we would look like pac men gliding around 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:20.440 a maze of corridors chasing patients, and the patient's path 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:25.240 through this maze starts at the front desk. According to 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.800 the front desk, Monday and Thursday mornings are their busiest times. 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.800 Amos Borquet. 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:42.559 This is Altis Mendez and her name could not be 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:44.040 more perfect for her position. 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:45.560 We were talking to our patients. 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:47.640 He asked me what my name was, and he said, well, 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.120 I forgot. Like you know, it's very easy when you 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:51.439 have pain, just think of me. 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:52.720 That's my name, Dolores. 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:57.000 Overall, the clinic sees eighty five hundred patients a year. 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.000 To be able to get care here, an individual patient 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.640 must have no insurance and have an annual salary of 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:06.840 under thirty thousand dollars. The clinic doesn't treat kids, because 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:11.360 Illinois provides healthcare to minors regardless of status. Once a 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.200 patient checks in, they sit in the skylit waiting room. 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:19.079 Their names are called out one by one, they take 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:23.200 their vitals, and then the patients are led to their appointment. 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:28.520 There are neurologists, ophthalmologists, even a dentist who will extract 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:35.719 your teeth while you listen to calming retro jams. The 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:37.640 exam rooms in the clinic are laid out in a 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:39.920 U shape. The nucleus of the clinic is in the 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:42.079 center of the U, and it's an open space with 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:45.800 computers and chairs where doctors and staff hang out. Every 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:48.480 morning and afternoon, the staff gathers here for briefing called 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.400 the huddle, which Sophia caught on the first day on 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:52.720 the board. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.320 And I think that's all, thanks guys very quick. Today 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:59.960 the morning huddle is led by Amelia Pilch. She's from Poland, 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:01.520 moved here thirteen years ago. 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:04.560 Uh, you know, economy in Poland wasn't that great? Isn't 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.760 that great? I guess, so we just came here with 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:07.600 my parents. 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.880 And the Chicago metropolitan area has the largest Polish community 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:14.199 in the United States. And the clinic reflects that about 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:17.120 a third of patients are Polish speakers, and that's part 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:20.000 of why we wanted to visit Community Health. Almost all 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:23.400 of the patients we spoke to there were immigrants, and 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:26.599 sometimes Amelia briefs the doctors, but she also maintains this 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:28.360 leaderboard at the center of the clinic. 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:30.679 A provider is like, really really good at it, we 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:32.160 give them a shout out during the hudel. 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:34.960 It's a whiteboard with names like the high score ranking 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.640 screen in an arcade game, but all the names on 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:40.839 it are residents, and instead of a point total, the 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:42.120 categories are things. 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.440 Like diabetics for they want to see less than nine. 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:47.480 Percent things us non doctors wouldn't understand. 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:51.199 That means that their diabetes is well ish controlled, so 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:52.840 anything over nine percent. 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:55.680 And the residents are pretty into these rankings. 0:12:57.280 --> 0:12:59.800 It's pretty competitive, to be honest, Like it's so tiny. 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.040 They're like they always look for their names, and some 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.000 of them have been on there for like, you know, 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.079 eight ten times the same name, so they're very like, 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:11.040 you know, so we kind of here's you're awesome. 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:15.040 Doctor Mattilios interrupts Amelia as she scours the board for 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:15.800 her own name. 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:18.760 Yes, you were there some Well, it's for the residents only, so. 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:19.000 You know. 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:22.880 She's the doctor who diagnosed Martha at the beginning of 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:23.319 the story. 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:26.880 Oh, she's told me. I've heard about the. 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:31.120 Cats, and she's often the center of attention. I'm told 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:34.200 I must hear the story behind the name of her cat. Natcho. 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:38.439 Okay, my gran sound gave me a joke. What do 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:42.480 you think cheese that is not yours? Not your cheese, 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:44.559 Not your cheese. 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:48.560 Doctor Rios has been a volunteer doctor at the clinic 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:50.960 for eight years, and so she has a special connection 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:54.040 with many of her patients. Both Antonia and I spent 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:55.760 a lot of time with her and in her exam 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.200 room between appointments. Doctor Rios told Antonia a little bit 0:13:59.240 --> 0:13:59.920 more about herself. 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.720 Doctor Rios, like many of her patients, is an immigrant. 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:07.679 She came to the US from Urdu Way in the 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:11.040 late seventies. At the time, there was a military dictatorship 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:14.240 and power and the administration was targeting civilians. They believed 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:16.360 to be part of a guerrilla terrorist group. 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.000 But they were also taken to jail because you have 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:23.520 a family who was involved. They would take Koto and 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.560 you were afraid. Yes, yes we were. 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:27.160 We were. 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:29.760 That's what we emigrated. 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:32.800 Her family moved to Chicago in nineteen eighty three, and 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.680 doctor Rio started her career in private practice. She worked 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:40.480 for three decades and then decided to retire. But if 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:43.720 you can't tell, doctor Rios has a lot of energy, 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.960 and so she started to get restless. And one night, 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.480 while she was googling at two am, something she told 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.640 me she actually does very frequently. She learned about this 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.480 clinic Community Health and thought it was exactly the kind 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:58.920 of place that she would like to volunteer at. But 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.200 when she first started coming, she didn't exactly feel welcome. 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:07.480 I didn't know anybody. And I saw these professors from 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:11.840 Northwestern rush walking talking given classes, and I said, what 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.200 I'm doing here? Because I didn't know anybody, I was 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.760 going to quit. I felt bitter, uncomfortably. 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:19.960 But then she got a little encouragement. 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.960 Somebody from the front this game and say, oh my god, 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:27.120 doctor Rio. Sold the patient like you so much. They 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:30.240 all want to come back to you. So I said, okay, 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:32.320 so maybe I can do something good here. 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:36.160 Mattilee is retired. She doesn't get paid to see patients. 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:39.280 None of the doctors do. It takes over one thousand 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:41.360 volunteers to keep Community Health running. 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:48.040 The way Community Health runs is that all of the 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:51.880 doctors are volunteers. Some are retired, but many are full 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:54.160 time doctors who spend a few hours a month at 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:57.640 the clinic. And all of the prescriptions provided that Community 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:01.280 Health are free for patients, even really expensive things like insulin. 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.680 They even have their own pharmacy. Community Health was founded 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:09.400 in nineteen ninety three by an Italian immigrant, a kidney doctor. 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.400 He was concerned with the number of uninsured people in Chicago, 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.640 so he opened a storefront clinic that took patients twice 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.560 a week. The demand grew so much that in twenty 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:21.120 ten they even opened a second clinic to serve more people. 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.800 But then in twenty fourteen, the Affordable Care Act went. 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:28.760 Into effect, and millions of Americans finally had same chance 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:33.240 to buy quality, affordable healthcare and the peace of mind 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:35.120 that comes with it as everybody else. 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:37.640 And many of the clinic's patients were able to get 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.600 coverage for the first time. In fact, so many that 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.520 Community Health decided to close their second clinic because of 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:44.360 a drop in demand. 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:47.280 One knowsias, but at least. 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.720 One patient Antonia spoke to who felt that getting insurance 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:51.840 actually put him in a worse position. 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:56.320 Vis a Linocent Coseinyez stopped going to Community Health when 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:59.000 he began getting insurance through his work, but now he 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:01.680 wants to return to the clinic. The front desk tries 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.600 to explain to him that now that he's insured, he can't. 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:18.920 Jose hands the front desk person a letter, in it 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.199 he formally declines his new health insurance. He tells her 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:25.240 he's decided to stay uninsured in order to be able 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:28.800 to keep going to Community Health. The letter is taken 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.479 behind the desk to Vicky Chester, the patient services manager. 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:36.000 Vicky tells me that this circumstance is not that rare. 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:40.600 Oftentimes people will elect to cantle their insurance for the 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:43.159 sake of returning here, which is not something that we 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:44.080 encourage them to do. 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.840 What this means is that Jose would lose coverage in 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.800 case of an emergency, since Community Health only offers preventive care. 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.639 But Kse tells me that it's worth the risk for 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:58.679 him because he feels financially that he isn't getting by 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:02.080 month to month again, He's willing to risk a surprise 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.600 visit to the emergency room because his insurance is costing 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:06.440 him so much. 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:11.240 Las Cano's camp. 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.480 Under his works insurance, he says, he is now being 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.320 charged five thousand dollars to cover the cost of his 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:18.720 lotions to take care of his exzema. When he was 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:23.520 a community health patient, they were free. I want to 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.159 go check out where all these free meds are and 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:33.000 so I find myself in the clinics pharmacy. Doctor Rios 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.280 is there and she lets me know the lowdown on 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:36.280 one of her patients. 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.080 So we are here because we have a patient with 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:44.440 very high cholesterol called familiar hyper cooleisterolemia, and she's in 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:49.080 in medication. She's taking a medication who lowered the colesterole 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:52.560 What I think now she may not be taking the medication. 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:57.800 That's something many times we find that they prescribe a medication, 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:00.760 they get the medication from Fienn, but they don't take. 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:05.959 So she's coming today. I have to really ask if 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:09.440 she's taking and she always say yes, and after I 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:12.439 have to go around with other questions and sometimes they 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:14.800 say no, really doesn't I didn't take her. 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:17.240 Patient Irma arrives and it has led to the exam room. 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:19.040 I followed closely behind. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:26.679 Is that medicina. 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:28.880 Doctor Rios cuts. 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:30.879 Her gaze away from Irma and towards me with a 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:52.280 sly expression that says, see told yourself, mad. It seems 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:54.480 like Irma is starting to give in to doctor Rios. 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:56.879 She's saying that there are nights that she skipped the 0:19:56.920 --> 0:19:58.880 medicine because she feared that it was keeping her. 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:00.320 Up well, not is. 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:13.679 Mando? 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:15.399 Okay? 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:18.640 So when doctor. 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:21.080 Rios seems genuinely shocked that she was able to get 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:24.760 to admit she wasn't taking her medicine so quickly, and 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:27.320 she tells she's worried about her needing to get up 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:29.120 in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:31.119 that it might be a sign of another problem, and 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:32.199 so she's going to order some. 0:20:32.280 --> 0:20:39.840 Tests, per okay. When I sit in an empty exam room. 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:53.520 Your croquet when. 0:20:56.720 --> 0:21:06.800 Medico perolas, when I the door so we can talk privately, mises. 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:08.560 Bin. 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:15.280 I learned that there are things in IMA's life that 0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:18.240 are not so easily fixed just by taking the pills 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:21.240 for cholesterol that doctor Rios so desperately. 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:21.560 Wants her to take. 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:25.600 Ima opens up about very personal things, and even though 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:27.760 I have her sign a consent form with her full name. 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:30.680 All of the patients we spoke to did. Because of 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:33.280 the nature of her story, we have decided not to 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:41.240 include her last name. When she arrived in the US, 0:21:41.520 --> 0:21:45.120 she started to work in housekeeping at a hotel in Evanston, Illinois, 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:48.480 a wealthy suburb north of Chicago, but she stopped after 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:50.440 something happened at her work. 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:05.760 Physic any persona and mana years. 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:07.320 Maybe. 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:12.320 And Ima says that she was frequently raped by her. 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:19.000 Managercopava Centia, Centia forte centia. 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:25.600 Can Ima says that people at her job didn't support her, 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:28.240 and that many of her colleagues were facing similar treatment 0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:30.280 but couldn't speak up because they did not want to 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:31.080 lose their jobs. 0:22:33.000 --> 0:22:33.200 Yep. 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:36.800 Finally, one day she gathered courage to leave her job 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:39.440 and filed a complaint with the local police. 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:50.520 And I'm with forion. 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:53.280 A persona. 0:22:54.320 --> 0:22:56.240 No no, nothing machines. 0:22:57.040 --> 0:22:59.600 She struggled to find help until learning about this place 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:00.880 Community Health. 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:08.840 Neste okay no I spress. 0:23:09.720 --> 0:23:12.239 In addition to the doctor, she sees a therapist here 0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:15.200 and with her help, she's been able to reframe what 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:15.960 happened to her. 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:20.360 Garnet gnio. 0:23:23.119 --> 0:23:27.000 Espress her calu cha. 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:35.120 She's been here for only a year. She admits there's 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:36.600 still a lot of work to be done. 0:23:41.640 --> 0:23:46.919 Okay, so yes, a moment to schedules Canada, the po 0:23:47.280 --> 0:23:53.320 be there, and the Moon says as if his sister. 0:23:55.600 --> 0:23:56.840 To super. 0:24:03.119 --> 0:24:06.760 People who argue undocumented immigrants shouldn't have access to healthcare 0:24:06.920 --> 0:24:10.840 pose their position as one about lack of resources. Undocumented 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:13.959 migrants are invaders coming to take advantage of our system, 0:24:14.560 --> 0:24:17.520 to use our benefits and take our jobs. But what 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:21.200 this argument leaves out is the altogether common situation in 0:24:21.280 --> 0:24:29.320 which our system takes advantage of them. During our days 0:24:29.359 --> 0:24:32.280 at Community Health, we started to see how this one 0:24:32.400 --> 0:24:35.520 clinic is trying to treat patients by not just addressing 0:24:35.560 --> 0:24:39.479 their physical health, but also taking into consideration the system 0:24:39.680 --> 0:24:40.520 in which they live. 0:24:48.200 --> 0:24:51.960 Coming up on Latino USA, we unpack the unique challenges 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:56.399 of caring for the undocumented. Stay with us, not stay by, 0:24:56.480 --> 0:25:47.320 Yes Hey We're back, and producers Sophia Palissa car and 0:25:47.440 --> 0:25:51.320 Antonia Serejido have been observing the inner workings of the 0:25:51.480 --> 0:25:57.040 largest free health clinic in the nation. Community Health is 0:25:57.160 --> 0:26:00.920 located in Chicago, and it only serves people without health 0:26:00.960 --> 0:26:06.199 insurance Their most common diagnoses are high cholesterol, high blood pressure, 0:26:06.520 --> 0:26:09.879 and diabetes, three of the most common health problems in 0:26:09.960 --> 0:26:13.560 the US, and like doctor's offices across the country, this 0:26:13.720 --> 0:26:17.840 clinic treats the physical symptoms of these issues, but it 0:26:18.119 --> 0:26:21.600 also takes into account the very specific needs of their 0:26:21.680 --> 0:26:27.639 immigrant and often undocumented patients. Now it's evening time at 0:26:27.680 --> 0:26:31.720 the Community Health Clinic in Chicago, and our producer Sophia 0:26:32.080 --> 0:26:33.560 is going to pick up this story from here. 0:26:36.200 --> 0:26:39.159