Tuesday, May 14, 1996
Overburdened system depends on help to meet needsBy Sergio
Sanchez
A number of UCLA pre-med students have been under the impression
that volunteering at large hospitals provides good enough
preparation for justifying the claim of having "clinical
experience" on that dreaded American Medical College Application
Service medical school application.
However, many students have failed to acknowledge the role of
free health clinics, which, in addition to providing free health
care to the poor, are excellent venues for volunteers to get
clinical training. Many free clinics depend on doctors who
volunteer their time and on college students who want exposure to a
medical environment before they consider making it a part of their
health careers.
Los Angeles County has an undersupply of ambulatory services for
the county’s Medi-Cal and indigent patients, an overburdened trauma
care system, a large uninsured population and ongoing threats to
undermine funding for indigent care. These concerns, coupled with
the rising cost of health care, have forced people to flock to free
health clinics.
Privately financed free health clinics provide a variety of
services ranging from prenatal care to AIDS counseling. The
increasing demand for services from free health clinics has brought
about a shortage of staff, who are almost exclusively
volunteers.
The demand for volunteers in the inner-city free clinics is
likely to increase due to the growing indigent population in Los
Angeles. Stagnant employment in Los Angeles County among low income
communities has resulted in an increased demand for health care
from an increasingly unemployed population that has become poorer
and sicker. As a result, free health clinics have become regarded
as an oasis for those individuals who otherwise cannot afford an
adequate HMO Â quality health care.
Southern California’s compromised county health care provisions
have been additionally threatened by the state cutbacks imposed on
public hospitals such as Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center,
which recently overcame threats of closure thanks to the
intervention of the federal government.
One of few major county hospitals in Southern California, it is
a crucial provider of preventive health care services to those
individuals who do not have or cannot afford managed health
care.
Free clinics have occasionally functioned as sinks to absorb the
overflow of this tremendous health care demand. It is only until
recently, due to the economic times, that free clinics have taken a
more active role as an alternative provider of health care.
The increasing demand for volunteers in the inner-city free
clinics is there, but the staff necessary to fulfill the demand is
not. Volunteering at local inner-city clinics is crucial for the
survival of these organizations that depend on donated time and
money. Volunteer staff are necessary to assist in providing health
care services. If not supplied, many people who depend on the free
clinics for critical health care will wait in longer lines and tax
the already compromised public health care system of Southern
California.
If you would like to help and want to do something beyond being
a patient escort, contact local clinics in your area or visit the
UCLA Community Programs Office at 102 Men’s Gym for more
information on how to get involved with local volunteer
programs.
Sanchez is co-director of the Black-Latino AIDS project and a
fifth-year biology student.
The increasing demand for services from free health clinics has
brought about a shortage of staff, who are almost exclusively
volunteers.