Initial Contact

This past week we have made some very exciting initial contacts. We spoke to a person from TAP-IN, the organization that matches retired hospital staff with free clinics, and even though the organization is not yet in Florida, they hope to enter the state in 2009. We spoke to Dr. Bill Staub, who was able to give us a lead on an organization that constructs and organizes free clinics called the Volunteers in Medicine Institute.

I also made contact with a woman from Orange Regional Medical Center, one of the largest hospital networks in Central Florida. I spoke with a woman named Geeta, who was very nice but very unaware of the health problems the former farmworkers faced, and was quick to dismiss the urgency of this problem. She assumed the clinic in Apopka was sufficient both in treatment and price regulation, and felt Florida Hospital had several branches in Apopka. After explaining more, she became slightly less dismissive, and asked me to send her more information. She also explained ORMC is not for profit hospital, making it a healthcare system willing to reach out to communities, however, getting their assistance is very competitive as many communities plead their cases for help. Geeta was also confused by how a collaborative project between ORMC, Rollins College, and The Farmworkers Association of Apopka may work. I will have to find examples of such models to send to her.

Overall we are making great first steps towards progress. I hope one of our contacts leads us somewhere!