CHOC center discussion should focus on children
Quynh Kieu and Burton Willis
As pediatricians, we have read with interest the Daily Pilot’s
ongoing airing of community commentary on the proposed children’s
health care center at Rea Elementary School.
Almost every day, a new group of letters appears decrying the plan
as a plot to decimate the Westside Costa Mesa community. All of these
letters focus on such logistics of the proposed health center as
where it would be located, what the traffic impact would be, whether
families from outside the Westside would be served, etc.
What is missing is a focus on the reason behind the collaborative
efforts of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Children’s
Hospital of Orange County and their partners to bring a new
children’s health care center to Westside Costa Mesa.
In a letter that appeared in the Pilot on Aug. 20 (Readers
Respond, “Children’s Hospital health clinic discussion continues”),
Bill and Nancy Souza pointed out that an estimated 4,000 Westside
Costa Mesa children quality for medical coverage through Medi-Cal,
and there is not one pediatrician in the 92627 zip code who accepts
Medi-Cal patients. Thousands of children in Westside Costa Mesa,
then, are likely not receiving timely, comprehensive medical care.
This status quo cannot continue without serious negative consequences
for the entire community.
Several readers have voiced concerns about encouraging illegal
immigration through the provision of publicly funded social programs.
My response is that pediatricians put children’s health first -- no
matter who the child. It is not the place of pediatricians or
children’s hospitals to set or debate our government’s immigration
policy. It is our mission to care for children who need care. I will
also point out that the children who qualify for Medi-Cal, the target
population for the proposed new children’s health center, must meet
citizenship or legal resident criteria. By helping them get a healthy
start in life with quality health care, we take an important step
toward ensuring that they will become contributing members of our
society.
In closing, I’d like to share a favorite quote from the immortal
Pearl S. Buck, who said, “If our American way of life fails the
child, it fails us all.”
Let’s stop debating the logistics of the proposed new children’s
health center and start some meaningful discussions about how to
better serve the health care needs of Westside Costa Mesa’s children.
* QUYNH KIEU and BURTON WILLIS are the president and chair,
respectively, of the California Chapter 4 American Academy of
Pediatrics.
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