Katy Trail Community Health

Today's focus for National Health Center Week focus is "Agricultural Worker Health." Did you know that the Migrant Health Act of 1962, signed by U.S. President John F. Kennedy, preceded Community Health Centers (1965)? The movement for migrant workers' health was led by farmworkers, most famously Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, who saw no distinction between civil rights and health care access. Today, Community Health Centers serve more than 1 million migrant and seasonal agricultural workers. These workers are essential, putting food on our tables across the country. Experts in migrant health care have learned to provide immunizations on a fast-track schedule, supply instructions for keeping insulin safe while traveling, emphasize hand-carried portable records, and fill prescriptions with 90 day supplies. Some health centers that see point-to-point populations have shared services, so that a family can, for example, get eye care in Florida and dental care in North Carolina. It takes not just a village, but several villages, to provide continuity of care. Cultural humility, creativity, curiosity, compassion and an understanding of health literacy are essential for clinicians. Many innovations in care have come from migrant health centers; for example, community health workers, or promotoras have been a backbone of operations for decades. #NHCW24 #HealthEquity