For Residents In Rural Areas, Transportation Can Be Major Barrier To Getting Health Care
Because of a lack of public transportation, even short distances can be prohibitive for patients who don't have a car.
The Desert Sun:
Health Care Access For Riverside County Communities Depends On Transportation, Many Other Factors
Health care for people in low-income communities is a challenge exacerbated by a lack of reliable transportation. In rural areas like Blythe and the unincorporated communities in the eastern Coachella Valley, residents will delay care because they lack an affordable, reliable means of travel. While Blythe residents struggle to cross the many miles to care, North Shore, Oasis and Thermal residents may be less than five miles from providers but still struggle to reach needed medical services. Public transportation agencies, community clinics and community organizers are seeking to bridge the gaps, but advocates and officials say it’s a complex issue to address. (Gagliano, 8/30)
In other news from across the state —
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Scripps To Shutter Its Hospice Service
Less than five years after it started offering hospice care, Scripps Health is poised to shutter the service, notifying patients that they will need to find new providers by mid-September. It’s a significant change of course for an organization that has been committed to providing end-of-life care since it stepped in when San Diego Hospice went bankrupt in 2013. Today, 114 county residents — most who receive care in their homes — must choose a new hospice company by Sept. 4. Scripps is working with Escondido-based Elizabeth Hospice, which has expanded its service area to San Diego in recent years and has agreed to hire its employees. However, patients and their families are free to select whichever service they want. (Sisson, 8/30)
The Desert Sun:
FDA Cracks Down On Stem Cell Treatments Administered In Rancho Mirage
On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration signaled a crackdown on some stem cell treatments which could have repercussions for a local medical facility. The FDA announced this week it had sent members of the U.S. Marshals Service to a biotechnology company in San Diego to seize samples of a vaccine which are used as part of a “potentially dangerous and unproven treatment” administered to cancer patients at a Rancho Mirage clinic. The vaccine, which the federal agency said is used only on people who have a high risk of smallpox, was combined with stem cells and was then injected directly into cancerous tumors. (Kennedy, 8/30)