For this crisis is the result of many factors, from lack of awareness by foreign companies with newly opened offices in the United States to the foreignness (to foreign employees) involving access to everyday or acute medical care.
There is no seminar for these workers to download, and there is no town hall meeting between these companies and hospitals for people to attend, where doctors and hospital administrators can educate tens of thousands of employees about the role of a typical big city hospital versus, say, an urgent care clinic or a private medical practice.
If, in other words, hospitals want to reduce their already overcrowded emergency rooms, and presuming hospital administrators welcome the help of professionals who can act as cultural mediators, so to speak, for the good of foreign workers, then I suggest partnering with lawyers – immigration attorneys – in cities like New York, Washington, DC, Miami, Houston, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Take, for instance, the City of Miami, which is a Latin American metropolis in the same way some parts of New England are Anglo-American enclaves of cultural and economic fusion.
By Latin American, I refer to that merger of shared interests among many Spanish-speaking citizens and immigrants, rather than the literal definition of a geographical area between Mexico and South America.
So, when I see the dynamism within Miami – and when I look upon the many investors, global corporations and foreign workers based in that city – I believe the answer to the health care crisis described above rests with the help of immigration lawyers.
By way of example, Robert Rogers is one such specialist (in Miami) who does an excellent job of explaining the complexities of immigration law, the rules governing foreign investments in the United States and various Visa policies.
Hospital administrators need to engage the services of attorneys of this caliber because, aside from the joint credibility such a union would possess, it is an undertaking we can no longer delay or dismiss.
The more congested hospitals become, and the more indecipherable that environment is (because of a breakdown in communication, and the inability of doctors and nurses to diagnose and treat patients), the more chaotic – and financially catastrophic – this situation will be in Albany and Atlanta, and Detroit and Dallas, and Cleveland and Chicago, and in every city big and small.
Let the right lawyers – paired with the right executives – lessen the burden shouldered exclusively (for now) by hospital administrators throughout this country.
Indeed, if we are serious about health care reform, and if we mean to restore the vitality of hospitals as places of treatment and healing rather than makeshift triage units, then we need lawyers and doctors to work together.
This devotion to life and justice can forever change how a major part of our health care system works. It can yield immediate benefits, and release unexpected opportunities of good fortune and public advancement.
It can be a model for other industries to emulate, and a precedent for other leaders to follow.
Through the language of the law, immigrants and guest works can become conversant in the vocabulary of America’s hospitals and health care providers.
That is a discussion of moral urgency and fiscal necessity.
Now is the time to act, lest our hospitals become too weak to help, too poor to lead and too frantic to respond.
A writer and health care activist, Lewis Fein addresses several issues involving technology and medicine. Based in Southern California, you may email him at feinlewis@gmail.com.
The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of Becker’s Hospital Review/Becker’s Healthcare. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.
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