Click here to listen to the audio or read the full transcript at Latino USA (NPR), December 4, 2019
“This week, Latino USA goes to the doctor.
We spend three days inside CommunityHealth in Chicago—the largest free health clinic in the country, which serves only people without insurance.
Free clinics have only been around in the United States starting in the 1960s and 1970s. They began as places to support a growing number of young people who ran away from home, were not insured, or were addicted to drugs.
Today, there are nearly 28 million uninsured people in the U.S., and for some of them, free clinics are their safety net. When it comes to undocumented people, they generally have no access to health insurance and so their healthcare options are very limited.
It’s very difficult for journalists to get behind the scenes access to medical centers because there are a lot of laws protecting patient privacy. So when CommunityHealth told us they would give us full access to their facilities, we saw it as a rare opportunity to observe the daily dramas that unfold there. We spend several days sitting in on doctor’s exams and talking to patients, interpreters, and staff—all to try to capture a snapshot of how life as an undocumented person can affect an individual’s physical and mental health.”
Click here to listen to the audio or read the full transcript at Latino USA (NPR), December 4, 2019