Virginia’s first lady visits Fredericksburg
By Hope Racine, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
As a branch of
During her visit, McAuliffe urged staff to share their experiences working with uninsured patients.
Her husband, Gov.
Throughout the discussion, many expressed frustration with current
"You see working parents who have multiple children, who grow ill and can't seek help," said
Many staff members echoed Manikas' concerns, sharing stories of patients who had large families and often went without care.
"As someone with substantial health insurance, I feel bad that I can't give it to them," Manikas said.
According to the staff, much of the work they do extends past simple health care, and often overlaps with social services.
"There is a lot of misinformation about programs and what is offered, and a substantial amount of what we do is also education and outreach," said
Within one location, the community health clinic offers a variety of services to their clients, including pediatrics, dental and mental health services. This helps cut cost for their clients and provides a more comprehensive range of services.
According to Mackenzie, uninsured individuals often wait until circumstances are severe before seeking help, which usually results in pricey emergency room visits. Some free clinics have waiting periods before individuals can be provided specialized treatment, while community clinics such as CVHS can offer same-day service to registered patients.
"I see this every day in my community, working people who just can't get insurance for their kids or themselves," said
"We see it, but I don't know if our lawmakers know that people are in need. They might not be seeing it like we do," Young said.
Thursday's visit was one of 12 events that have been held in community clinics around the state to discuss health care problems and gain information for
The program aims to provide coverage to 400,000 uninsured Virginians. According the first lady's chief of staff,
"Economically and morally, we need to make sure that Virginians have health care coverage,"
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(c)2014 The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.)
Visit The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.) at www.fredericksburg.com/flshome
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