By Rhonda Seltz — July 18, 2022
There is a growing excitement and synergy in the rural areas of Galax and surrounding counties of Carroll and Grayson. There have been two Hispanic Health Fairs offered in the region in the last few weeks and more are being planned with hopes of providing more services and more education to more families.
It has become painfully apparent over the last few years that, although this region has a relatively high number of Hispanic residents, there are very limited options for linguistically and culturally sensitive healthcare services.
Debbie Bratton, a nurse case manager in Tri-Area Community Health’s Floyd clinic, has been particularly vocal about her concern for her Hispanic patients and their families. Some of the families in the Floyd area have lived in the region most of their lives yet are uninsured. Most are not eligible for Medicaid and do not know about the federal marketplace or other healthcare options available to them.
In late 2021, I convened a meeting to bring community partners to the table to discuss a strategy to address this issue. One thing was clear: most agencies in the area felt the need to increase access to health care for the growing Hispanic population. Our planning meetings began in December 2021 with Tri-Area Community Health CEO Jim Werth and Executive Assistant Michelle Turman taking the lead. Other planning committee partners include me and Amber Poron from Enroll Virginia, medical students and faculty from Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, students and faculty from Radford University’s Nurse Practitioner program and Carilion’s undergraduate Nursing program, Jane Hellman of CHIP, and Fernanda Gutierrez Matos and Teagan Neveldine with New River Health District.
Our first Hispanic Health Fair was set for June 25, 2022 at Grayson County High School in Independence, VA. Just a few weeks prior to the first event, we discovered that there was another group led by Lilianna Penalver from the Office of New Americans and Olga Kenyon from Molina Healthcare who were coordinating a very similar event in the neighboring city of Galax on June 26, a day after ours. Although too late to coordinate events, we decided to market our events as a two-day health fair to allow people the opportunity to attend either day.
Our Grayson County event had almost 80 community representatives eagerly waiting to provide screenings, exams, physicals, education, referrals, medical homes, health coverage but only served two families, six people.
The Galax event had almost 80 people!!!! at their event but did not have the amount of space, community provider participation, and number of screenings and services offered at the Grayson County event….
So, naturally, we are moving forward as one team to coordinate future events with the dynamic Liliana steering the ship! We are all looking forward to the possibilities that lie ahead to increase healthcare access for all individuals and families statewide. Liliana has already begun planning for a follow-up event for this fall and all events will be posted once confirmed.
Our next Hispanic Healthcare Event will be at Floyd County High School on Saturday, July 30, 2022 from 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. For more information about the Floyd event, contact Michelle Turman: mturman@triarea.org.
Rhonda Seltz has been a health care advocate for more than 40 years. In her current position as an Enroll Virginia Navigator, she assists Southwest Virginians with how to apply for and utilize Medicaid, FAMIS, and the federal insurance Marketplace programs. Rhonda is also known for her work with local, regional, and statewide partners identifying and addressing unmet health care needs throughout the region.