Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/447737
Within this picture are Humboldt County statistics that defy state averages: ■ Twenty-six percent of children in the county live in poverty. ■ County arrest rates for domestic violence are 44 percent high- er than the state average. ■ Neglect and abuse reports to child welfare are 246 percent above the state average and the number of children in foster care is 168 of the state average. ■ Many homeless men have been released from the foster care system at the age of 18 with nowhere to go and no way to make money. ■ More than half of homeless adults in Humboldt County are disabled, 26 percent are mentally ill, and 36 percent have been victims of domestic violence. ■ An increasing percentage of homeless are veterans. Substance abuse is so severe that needle exchange is allowed because the county's health officer goes before the city board every month to have a state of emergency declared (the only way needle exchange is permitted). To reduce the rising number of deaths from drug overdose, Mobile Medical Office has created a program to train substance abusers to give life-saving injections to friends who have overdosed on heroin. These statistics reflect dire conditions, and access to care in many rural areas remains challenging. Knocking Down Barriers Organizations like Mobile Medical Office seek to remove some of the common barriers to obtaining health care in rural areas. In Humboldt County, these barriers include poverty, lack of in- surance, lack of public transportation, mental health issues that may make it impossible for individuals to negotiate the social service system, language and cultural barriers to receiving care, and homelessness. In Sally Hewitt's opinion, poverty and lack of health insur- ance are the most significant barriers. Hewitt has good reason to give her opinions: She is CEO of Mobile Medical Office, a posi- tion she's held for three years. She began her association with Mobile Medical as a part time bookkeeper in 1997 and became the CEO/CFO in 2002. She has worked in nonprofit organiza- tions for more than 30 years and recently was honored by the Northern California Association of Nonprofits as the Nonprofit Leader of the Year. "A lot of the people we see in the clinics are two working par- ents making minimum wage, with children," says Hewitt. "These are not people laying around on the dole. Neither one has a job that provides health coverage. They have kids and maybe even a mortgage and they can't afford insurance on their own." Hewitt says the most recent phenomenon is the person with insurance who shows up at the clinic because they cannot meet "MANY CLIENTS live in campgrounds, their cars, low-end motels, halfway houses or on the street. Maintaining the required paperwork is not an option." —Les Rastorfer, Mobile Medical Office staff 16 M A R C H 2 0 0 6 W W W . C A L N U R S E S . O R G C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E