Fighting for Ongoing Dialysis Care for the Uninsured Immigrant Population

Vital Stats

Atlanta, GA

  • people helped38
  • People Doing It 8

The Problem

For the past year I have been fighting as a volunteer with ARxC to find long-term care for 33 uninsured immigrant patients with End-Stage-Renal disease of Grady Hospital. Beginning in August of 2009, Grady Hospital closed its outpatient dialysis clinic. At this time uninsured foreign patients were not provided with an alternative dialysis provider. The Advocates for Responsible Care (ARxC), a non-profit patient advocacy organization, was then established to advocate on behalf of the patients’ right to receive continuous dialysis treatment. I have been working alongside the ARxC President, Dorothy Leone-Glasser, and the patients' attorney since we established the organization in September of 2009. We issued a Letter to the Grady Board of Directors followed by our Statement to the Grady Board of Directors demanding that they provide continuous care for the patients. Our action was especially pertinent given that the patients are dependent upon dialysis treatment three times a week for their survival. Thanks to the volunteer legal services provided by Lindsay Jones and the tremendous support from the press, Grady contracted with a private company to provide dialysis treatment at their local centers. Multiple times Grady attempted to prematurely terminate their contract , but, thanks to the steadfast efforts of ARxC, Grady eventually allowed the contract to fulfill its year-long duration. The contract ended August 31, 2010 and again ARxC had to use the power of the press and people to demand that dialysis be made available to the patients. Eventually, Grady elected to derive a new contract to supply dialysis treatments for another year to the remaining 25 patients not provided "in kind" care by the private dialysis providers. I continue to fight with ARxC to find a lifetime supply of dialysis for the remaining patients to ensure their voices are heard.

Plan of Action

Over the past year I have worked as a Board Member and volunteer with ARxC to ensure the patients continue to receive their routine dialysis treatments. Past steps taken include: 1. Filed suit against Grady Hospital for failing to provide a transfer of care and threatening the patients with medical abandonment 2. Appealed to elected officials for their assistance 3. Appealed to the private companies or existing hospitals. 4. Appealed to the Human Rights Commission to help us find sustainable dialysis for these patients. 5. Held events to engage the public in an open discussion of the ethics of our healthcare system and our actions 6. Created an online petition to engage others in demanding that the private dialysis providers supply the patients with treatment 7. Publicized the Dialysis Crisis to help others to understand the injustice suffered by the immigrant population 8. Recruited support from neighboring medical clinics and legal resources The above steps have ensured that the patients are provided with an additional two years of dialysis treatment. Two years to spend time with their families and continue on with their lives. Future steps taken: 1. Assist patients in filing for emergent citizenship status 2. Encourage policy makers to design new legislation that makes health care benefits available to immigrants with End-Stage-Renal Disease 3. Help the patients and their families to enroll with a primary care provider 4. Help the patients tell their stories and make their stories known to the public 5. Continue to educate the public on the injustices suffered by the immigrant population 4. Fund raise to supply the patients with the resources they need to continue to receive their treatments and the resources we, as an organization, need to continue the fight
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Human Rights

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