Sunday, November 18, 2007

Third World Clinic, in the United States?

We've talked a lot in class about rural access to health care. This story, from today's New York Times Magazine, paints a portrait that makes the issue a little more real. The article describes the work of traveling doctors, using tents and sterilized animal stalls to create makeshift clinics in areas like rural Virginia. 47 million people, or 15 percent of population in the United States, live without health insurance. While they may not all be serviced in clinics like those described in the article, the presence of such clinics sheds light on the pressing need for greater access to services in rural areas. Despite these doctors' best intentions, hundreds of patients can be turned away any given weekend, leaving one to wonder where it is that they turn next.

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