How one community care clinic is helping immigrants navigate the healthcare system in GA.
How one community care clinic is helping immigrants navigate the healthcare system in GA.
From her desk at the Mexican Consulate, Dianne Roman provides an invaluable service: helping people figure out how to get the medical attention they need.
One of the greatest privileges of writing 285 South is that I get to highlight people I come across who I can see make a tangible difference in people's lives, and who genuinely care about the well-being of those around them. Often, it's the people who are doing seemingly ordinary tasks - following up, calling back, asking questions, listening - that can make such an immediate impact. Dianne is one of those people.
The first time I met Dianne Roman was at a vaccination event at the Mexican consulate. She was masked, but her eyes were smiling. That spirit - ever helpful - ever positive- pervades her work.
Dianne is the coordinator of Ventanillas de Salud, a healthcare service run through a partnership between the Latino Community Fund - Georgia and the Mexican government, located at the Mexican Consulate. There are clinics like these in consulates across the country, and the one in Atlanta is on Chantilly Drive just off I-85.
Every weekday, Dianne takes on among the most herculean of tasks: help people, mostly those who are recent immigrants and speak little to no English, navigate the jungle that is healthcare in the U.S.
“They can call me and ask me health questions regarding if they need a plan and insurance or they need specialists or how to navigate in the United States health system, which we know is not easy. That's me - trying to support them and be the person that they can go to,” said Diane.
The clinic offers preventative health screenings like HIV Testing, glucose and blood pressure tests, and dental exams. And it offers information - a place that people can contact to find out where to get support for depression or how to find a doctor that accepts Medicaid.
Diane works at the front office of Ventanillas at the consulate, but she’s also the person behind its social media accounts, regularly responding to requests for information and assistance. And she makes sure people know that if they reach out, it will be her, Dianne, on the other end. “If you send a message through messenger, it's me. If you send a messenger on Instagram it’s me.” It's important for people to know they are connecting with another human being, she says, something she learned after seeing her mom navigate her way through the system. “She's like, I called a person in my insurance. And when I called him, he said my name. And she loved that….”
Some days, the needs of the people reaching out to Ventanillas are straightforward - they need a referral or a vaccine. But sometimes, says Dianne, you have to “see beyond” to understand what’s really going on with them.
Once, a woman came in looking for a vaccine. “I saw her and knew something was happening to her. So I asked her if everything was fine at her casita (small home), and if she had food at her casita.” It turns out, the woman didn’t. Dianne keeps food at Ventanillas for situations like these. She says at least ten times in the last year there have been occasions where people needed food, but didn’t admit to it until she asked. Other times - Dianne simply asks how someone walking into Ventanillas is doing. She’ll often learn they need mental health support.
“You really need to care when you're talking to a person and see beyond what's going on with them… a lot of people say I'm going to help you, that they will call you back, but they don’t do anything again. So when I call back or when I say hey, this is the information, they’re surprised,” said Dianne.
Dianne admits her work comes with an emotional toll. “Sometimes I close the door of my office, and I cry. Because the things that we see here and hear here are sad.”
Her job could get even more challenging In the coming months, if Congress doesn’t extend continuous coverage of Medicaid when the COVID emergency period ends. Over 200,000 Georgia residents could lose Medicaid by the end of the year, and a large proportion of those who would lose out would be Black and Hispanic children.
“We serve the entire Latino community, and this will affect both the worker and the population that needs the total help of the government, opening more the gap between health services and the community,” said Dianne.
The loss of Medicaid would further limit healthcare options, especially for those who are undocumented and uninsured. They would either have to go to a community clinic (which are often overextended or have limited hours) or go straight to the ER for ANY medical issue, where they can get emergency Medicaid, said Dianne.
But despite the challenges, she'll continue to work to fill the gaps - because she couldn’t see it any other way. “This is my community.”