Most parents take for granted the ability to take their children to a doctor should the need arise. For many migrant and seasonal farm workers who are parents, that is not the case. When 6-year old Virginia Garcia cut her foot, it became infected. Due to economic, language and cultural barriers in healthcare, Virginia died from what should have been an easily treatable wound on Father’s Day, as her own father worked in the fields, unaware of the tragic turn of events. Determined to prevent similar tragedies from occurring, the community rallied together to open the first Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center (VGHC) in a three-car garage.
There are many dedicated folks who passionately believe in this mission and have jumped in with both their feet -- one of them is Ketan Sampat (one of CafeGive's founders) good friend, Lynn Baker -- she started out in a volunteer position on their Foundation Board and eventually believed in Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center's mission enough to take a hefty pay cut and left the for-profit world so she could dedicate herself fully to this task.
The Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center has expanded considerably since then and now provides over 110,000 office visits to more than 30,000 patients a year at four primary care clinics, three dental offices and two school-based health centers. VGHC provides high quality, comprehensive and culturally appropriate primary healthcare to the communities of Washington and Yamhill counties (the only federally qualified health center) with a special emphasis on migrant and seasonal farm workers and others with barriers to receiving healthcare. In addition they provide outreach to schools, community health fairs and to migrant and seasonal farm workers at local camps through a mobile clinic.
Some facts about the patients served at Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center:
- 68% of patients are at or below the Federal Poverty Level (which translates to earnings of $20,500 a year for a family of four)
- 48% of patients lack insurance
- 63% are best served in a language other than English
For more information on Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center check out their profile page on CafeGive and become an advocate for them.
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