Presented by:
Deliana Garcia Director, International Projects
Research, and Development
Migrant Clinicians Networkk
The United States is a nation built on immigrant labor. Historically immigrants do the jobs that, even in this economy, most will not. They go where the work is—fields, factories, construction sites—often with their families in tow, and take enormous risks in order to survive in the hope of a better life. Access to quality health care, a challenge in the best of times, is made even more difficult in the current political climate for immigrants. Even with the challenges immigrants currently face, there are glimmers of hope and programs on the ground that continue to provide access to quality care for many underserved populations. This presentation will look in depth at an especially innovative model called Ventanillas de Salud, a a project of the Secretary of Health of Mexico in partnership with local not-for-profits in the United States to improve access to care for immigrants in the United States. The goal of the Ventanillas it to provide bilingual, bicultural, and highly trained health educators and health advocates into the regular flow of consular services to provide on-site assessment, referral, and linkage to available health services. This model is an important example of collaboration in global health that has a number of lessons for accessible healthcare nationwide.