Clinica Sierra Vista will be holding an event to celebrate agricultural workers during Health Center Week. Each day of Health Center Week is dedicated to another focus area. For example, earlier this week, an event was held for homeless individuals.
The event will be at the intersection of N. Wheeler Ridge Rd. and Sandrini Rd. in Arvin at 11:00 a.m. Dr. Olga Meave, CEO of Clinica Sierra Vista, stated staff from almost every department and community partners will be present during the celebration.
Stated they will be promoting their health services at the event and trying to connect directly with the farm workers. They will have gifts, meals, and health screenings available.
“It is very important for me specifically to get all of those departments out that are kind of behind the scenes to go out there and really see this is who we are working for. This is why our job matters regardless of where we work, either in the administration building or at a clinic,” said Meave.
Meave hopes this event brings farmworkers closer to getting medical care and educates them on their options. She wanted to emphasize that each department has someone fluent in Spanish.
To any undocumented individuals looking to get healthcare that might have a fear, Meave stated that they do not share information about a patient’s documentation. They ask a lot of questions when patients come in because they are obligated to report demographics such as race, age, and ethnicity for their funding.
“A lot of people still think that if they apply for Medi-cal they are going to be a burden or if they try to apply for permanent residency or citizenship, they’re going to be denied that opportunity because they solicited medical care through Medi-cal in the past and that is not true,” said Meave.
She stated that Clinica Sierra Vista is dedicated to ensuring they are accessible to the community.
“We focus on our community, and we try to do our best in opening access and services according to the needs of the community,” said Meave.
