The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting our global community. And it’s presented a special challenge for health care organizations — including Pro Salud, our neighbor in Baja California.
Pro Salud is a non-profit that serves 85,000 people per year, specializing in sexual and reproductive health care as well as general health services. Pro Salud provides mobile medical services to schools, migrants, and field workers in addition to their in-clinic health services.
When the Coronavirus appeared, Pro Salud did an operational pivot to crucial COVID-19 work out in their communities and health centers.
Marcela Merino is the Executive Director of Pro Salud.
“Pro Salud is dedicated to the idea that health care is a right that transcends political borders and economic lines,” she said.
During March and April, Pro Salud adopted telehealth to provide care while practicing physical distancing. They have now opened two of their clinics to face-to-face visits with patients.
“We feel that our clinics are already low-risk places for Covid,” Marcela said. “We continue to refer Covid symptoms to urgent care clinics. Our staff are required to use masks, and we have developed distancing and cleaning protocols.”
Pro-Salud’s Mobile Clinic provides medical and educational services in homes and shelters for migrants, particularly on health and safety issues due to COVID-19.
“Migrants are the most vulnerable people here in Tijuana,” Marcela said. “There are international migrants and national migrants. Most weren’t born here — men, women, youngsters. They’re very, very vulnerable. They don’t have people to be their friends or source of support.”
In a period of two months, Pro Salud provided services to 288 people in seven shelters.
Pro Salud teams — consisting of a doctor, nurse, and medical assistant — go to the shelters with PPE (personal protective equipment) to reduce the risk for the team and for patients. Cleaning supplies are delivered at each visit, emphasizing recommendations to avoid transmission of the disease.
Esther Oviedo is a physician and Director of Pro Salud’s Community Program.
“One of the deficiencies previously found in the shelters was the lack of hygiene measures, which is closely related to the presence of infections of different types,” Dr. Oviedo said. “We have now observed a remarkable improvement in many of the shelters, both in personal hygiene and in the shelter’s overall cleanliness, and it is evident in the improvement in people's health.
“For this reason, it is very important for our work — in addition to providing supplies — that they follow hygiene measures, and give medical attention to those who require it, providing them with educational information to be able to deal with the disease by preventing its transmission.”
“We have had a lot of response from the directors of the shelters, who have always been interested in learning and following recommendations. They are very strict with people. In most of the shelters, people do not go out at all — only if someone needs something urgently or those who go out to work. They are asked to take all the protection measures and when they arrive at the shelter, they have to change clothes and bathe before they can get in touch with their families.”
Pro Salud staff take the temperatures of all people in the shelter and ask about potential COVID-19 symptoms. Medical consultation is provided to those who require health care, and the patient is followed up with until their case is resolved.
“Fortunately, we have not found serious health cases,” Dr. Oviedo said. “In just one of the shelters, two men had suspicious symptoms of COVID-19; they were isolated and when we went back to the shelter, the men no longer had symptoms.”
Another project that Pro Salud has implemented is working with elderly people — another vulnerable and sometimes neglected group. Health promotoras inform and educate elderly people on COVID-19 prevention measures.
Promotoras, or health promoters, are people who have the full trust of their communities, participate in community work, and look for ways to learn and transmit that knowledge to people.
The goal of this project is to serve 350 seniors. Ten health promotoras were trained by Pro Salud in COVID-19 issues, and each were provided with the necessary protective equipment to carry out their work.
“We always remind them that the first thing they must take care of is their health and well-being, and to follow safety measures for the protection of both themselves and the elderly,” Dr. Oviedo said.
Pro Salud is stepping in to fill an essential role in their communities during the pandemic.
“Pro Salud does not wait for people to come to us. We seek them out,” Marcela said. “And we will continue to seek them out until they receive the health care they deserve.”
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Tags: covid-19