Number of uninsured Tri-Citians is surging | Guest Opinion

For 18 years Grace Clinic has provided free healthcare to low-income, uninsured residents of our community.

Beginning by providing medical care for four hours each Saturday, the Clinic has grown to operate five days each week with services including medical, mental health and urgent dental services. Last year we were able to provide more than 8,000 patient visits.

Unfortunately, the need for Grace Clinic is increasing. A significant portion of our community has very limited income. Before the increase in unemployment from the current crisis, 30% of the people in the bi-county area were at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. The state is currently estimating that we have seen a 40% increase in the number of people without insurance in Benton and Franklin counties since March 1.

That’s 13,000 more uninsured members of our community.

We have been able to continue to operate while many of the free clinics across the country have been forced to suspend their operations. We have had to pivot and make modifications to keep our patients, staff and volunteers safe, and we are happy that we have been able to do so successfully.

Grace Clinic is able to provide these services because we live in a generous community. All of our support comes from the community, both our financial support and the work of our 300 volunteers. The Clinic is a credit to the community we live in. We have been able to provide the highest quality services to our patients, often leading in the integration of services across multiple disciplines.

The Clinic not only meets a big need in our community, but also plays a significant role in medical education by providing a tremendous learning opportunity for resident physicians, as well as students studying medicine, nursing, nurse practitioner, counseling, social work, dental hygiene, and medical interpreting.

In the current crisis we have people who have high paying jobs who are still getting paid and may be working from home. At the other end of the spectrum, we have staggering rates of unemployment and small businesses that are failing as well as low-paid essential workers that are still at work in difficult jobs.

And while the federal government has provided additional unemployment support, and some support for small business, that will end in the not too distant future.

Our system leaves many people behind and is steeped in inequity. Grace Clinic works tirelessly to bring greater equity to the healthcare system in our community. One objective demonstration of this inequity is seen in the life expectancy data by census track. In the Tri-Cities there is a 13 year difference in the average life expectancy between the census track with the highest average and the one with the lowest. Less than 2 miles separate those two areas.

We find ourselves in an election year where there are incredibly strong opinions on both sides, and in the middle of a health crisis where, in addition to the myriad of things that we don’t adequately understand about the virus, there is a great divide over how the crisis should be addressed. And we have had another demonstration of the enormous problem of racism in this country.

We need to come together on solutions that improve the lives of all members of our community, especially those who are left behind and marginalized.

We need to listen more and talk less. We need to examine our biases. We need to roll up our sleeves and get out our wallets. We need to demonstrate that this is a great community by the way we take care of each other.

And we need to go all in for the betterment of the community we call home. This will only happen if those of us who are not struggling with unemployment, racism, lack of access to healthcare and many other issues, make a commitment to making change happen for our community.

This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Number of uninsured Tri-Citians is surging | Guest Opinion."