re: Spanish speaking in the United States

quote:

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I have asked them, and BB has given specifics, some of which have been edited. Outside of saying he/she is "bitching" about the Spanish speaking patient (who had an English speaking spouse with her) I haven't attacked BB directly with an insult. And that would be an accurate description of what BB is doing, besides challenging everyone else here on whether or not they have had a job requiring them to go above and beyond. Apparently the medical profession is the only one to do that in BB's mind.

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The challenge faced in US medicine is that undocumented immigrants are often keenly aware of social legal loopholes. Many understand nooks and crannies of our system as well or better than lawyers. Sometimes that understanding comes as a detriment.

Take the common example of pregnant "self-pay" (i.e., no pay) illegal immigrants followed by the county healthcare system. It is a level of free medical service for noncitizens offered virtually nowhere else in the world.

When these individuals go into labor, instead of seeking care at the affiliated county facility with access to their docs and their records, they show up at the nicest private facility they can find. Hot tubs, designer coffee, etc. It is illegal for them to be turned away, and referred to the appropriate center. They are meticulously aware of that.

Aside from being burden to the system (expense, lack of language support, etc), the problem is access to records can be limited when folks show up at the wrong facility. Care may be negatively impacted.

In the latter instance, the medical profession is uniquely tasked, under threat of debilitating legal action, to provide top level care to deliberately uncooperative individuals. I'd suppose that is the type of experience BB is reflecting. It is suboptimal, and unnecessarily so.