Tyler McClelland

An AZ Hospital That Will Make You Sick

Fair warning: Before you read any further, make sure you place your coffee or tea way out of reach--and don’t even think about taking a sip until you’ve finished reading.

If you’ve pushed your mug away by now, go ahead, it starts here:

Almost three weeks ago Sonia del Cid Iscoa awoke from a twenty-five day coma following the complicated, eight-weeks-premature birth of her seventh child, a daughter. The 34-year-old Honduran native was unaware, however, that had it not been for her mother seeking and being granted a court order, she would have been forcibly deported to the country of her birth. The forced deportation was not at the hands of the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, though, but by the vigilante hospital where Iscoa sought emergency treatment. According to the Arizona Republic, when St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix decided to deport Iscoa, she was being fed through a tube, had non-functioning kidneys and a brain injury. For those of you who didn’t heed my warning, this is where you spew the contents of your mouth (and possibly stomachs) all over your computer screen.

Supporting her seven children as a carpenter and domestic worker, Iscoa has lived in the United States for seventeen years and has held a visa granting her temporary protected status since 1998. As a non-citizen immigrant, however, Iscoa was not protected by an insurance plan other than that granted by Arizona through an amended version of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System--a form of Medicaid that does not cover the long-term care required by Iscoa’s precarious condition. The Arizona Republic reports that because St. Joseph’s is unlicensed for long-term care and did not have the dialysis equipment necessary to treat Iscoa’s failing kidneys, her condition required her to be transferred from their facility to one that could better care for her. But even if you get past the newspaper’s report that St. Joseph’s was attempting to forcibly deport her, the Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa, Honduras--where Iscoa was to be deported for treatment--does not even have the proper dialysis equipment to treat her failing kidneys either, and only has a limited number of beds in its intensive care unit.

Fearing for the life of her daughter, Joaquina del Cid Plasecea asked for and received a temporary restraining order from a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge saving Iscoa--temporarily--from deportation. The family was still required to post a $20,000 bond to cover the expense of Iscoa’s treatment while the court decided whether moving her would endanger her life. Only a week ago, the Arizona Republic reported that Iscoa’s condition had improved remarkably, eliminating the need for her to be transferred from St. Joseph’s Hospital and that the two parties had reached a settlement outside of the court. While Iscoa appears to be safe for the moment, it is unknown how many other patients St. Joseph’s has forcibly removed from the U.S.

St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center states its mission is to provide “compassionate, affordable health services” and to “serving and advocating for [the] poor and disenfranchised.” According to this story, it would be a startling understatement to say that St. Joseph’s has failed its mission. It’s disgusting that a hospital would need to be lectured on not illegally deporting its immigrant patients--especially those in such critical condition. This particular issue is at the convergence of health care and immigration, but more than that, seeking to wantonly endanger the life of another human being in your care--legal immigrant or not, insured or not--is more than just a health care issue or an immigration issue, it is a humanitarian issue. So when we think about “comprehensive solutions,” it would behoove us to remember that we are legislating for people and not some indefinable and threatening Other.

Tyler McClelland: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 6:57 AM, May 31, 2008 in Immigration
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