Grace Shin, Pharmacist of Communityhealth Staff in Chicago, prepares drug drugs for patients on February 4, 2025. The free health clinic saw a drop in patients resuming their prescriptions after the return of President Donald Trump and his call to Immigration scannings.
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At Communityhealth, a free medical clinic on the west side of Chicago, nurse practitioner Margaret Bavis says that her patients are generally “solid rock”. This means that they show up at their appointments and take their prescribed drugs.
But everything that changed since President Donald Trump took office, she said.
Raids by American immigration and customs application agents (ICE) in several cities, including Chicagofrightened immigrant communities. Most patients who come to the free clinic are immigrants who speak Spanish or Polish – and most are not insured. Despite the overvoltages of Flu -shaped diseasesMany patients stay away.
One of Bavis’ patients jumped an appointment to work in the laboratory, but finally appeared a week later. The patient was in tears and feared that she could be taken Ice raids and separated from his family.
“” Right now, I’m so afraid. I cannot go nowhere “”, recalls Bavis that the patient had said.
Bavis said it was “heartbreaking to hear this kind of despair. I think we are only at the very beginning of what will be a really horrible period for our patients.”
Delay in care, even for a short period, may have serious medical implications, according to health care providers.
Community Health Agents on February 4, 2025. The clinic offers free health care and helps the community of immigrants from Chicago. They see a drop in people who come for their medication and are concerned about the impact of the expulsion effort.
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“For many, many immigrants who favor a future in this country above their own health, it is a risk in their minds that many people believe that it is worth taking” Dr Jose FigueroaAssociate Professor of Health Policy at the Harvard Th Chan School of Public Health.
“It is one of the most difficult choices that people make, and it’s a massive problem, especially at the moment when it’s winter, and it’s the moment when we see a lot of infection Viral spreading in the community, “said Figueroa.
He thinks of the communities of Latin immigrants, where it is common for several generations of families to live together, allowing infections to spread to the former household who could be more vulnerable to the disease.
In Communityhealth, many patients need help to manage high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions, Bavis said. Without treaties, these diseases can trigger a cascade of health complications. Bavis witnessed it during the cocovated pandemic, when people remained far from hospitals and clinics to make room for the patients seriously, but Then became sicker to delay medical care.
The health center had a huge backlog during the patient of patients who lacked preventive cancer screening, such as PAP smear, mammograms and colonoscopies. When patients returned, some received a diagnosis of cancer at a later stage, according to the CEO of Communityhealth, Steph Willding.
Almost 30% of patients jumped or canceled appointments
Communityhealth processes more than 4,000 people per year, with around 50 employees and 1,000 volunteers helping to take care of patients. Like many hospitals and health centers, Communityhealth does not require a person’s legal status.
However, in the first two weeks after Trump took up his duties, almost 30% of patients did not present or canceled their primary care visits, their specialized appointments or their laboratory tests without reprogramming. This resulted in more than 300 missed visits, said Willding.
“It was very surreal and reminded me of what it was to be there during the pandemic,” said Willding. “Several times I entered the clinic and it was silent, no noise, and when I checked the waiting room, twice, we did not have patients in our waiting room.”
Steph Willding, CEO of Communityhealth, poses for a portrait on February 4, 2025. The Free Health Center in Chicago largely serves immigrant communities.
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Not all clinics or hospitals have the same experience as Communityhealth, or does not hold on the number of patients who do not appear. Some medical installations slide another patient into a slit when someone does not come.
Several clinics, including Communityhealth, have moved to virtual visits to the request of patients who do not want to leave their homes. But this is not a long -term solution, said Willding. Some medical needs should be managed in person, such as obtaining a vaccine.
Fears encourage certain parents to lose interest in their children in health insurance
There are other signs of a scary effect on health care. In the Communityhealth on site pharmacy, two shelves were filled with small brown paper bags – all containing prescription drugs which had not been picked up for about 10 days. These drugs included insulin to treat diabetes and drugs to manage blood pressure, cholesterol and rheumatoid arthritis.
“Depending on the quantity they have at home, they really need these drugs,” said Elsa Bishop, assistant director of the pharmacy at Communityhealth.
More than half of the patients in the health center have at least one chronic condition that requires coherent care, said Willding.
Grace Shin, Pharmacist for Communityhealth Staff in Chicago, prepares diabetes drugs for patients on February 4, 2025.
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Social service agencies in the Chicago Region that help immigrants say that their customers are also afraid of engaging in care or receiving services. For example, some people do not renew food assistance or medical services they have already received from the state of Illinois. Some also move away from the request for financial assistance to help pay hospital bills, according to lawyers.
HAS Mano A Mano Family Resource CenterNon -profit in the suburbs of northern Chicago, some immigrant parents remove their children from health insurance, even if their children are American citizens.
Mano A Mano generally helps approximately 12,000 immigrants, mainly Latinos, register each year in public advantages. Case managers generally receive around 50 to 60 calls per day to apply, according to the Irma Barrientos program manager.
This went to three to five calls per day.
“Fear is so great that it prevents people from looking for wild treatment, preventive treatment,” said Barrientos.
She points to the Illinois health insurance programsWho cover adults and seniors immigrants, whatever their immigration status. They were welcomed as a rescue buoy for people who have no legal status in the state. But if people do not renew themselves every year, they lose coverage.
“We are going to have this vicious circle of people who had to go to the emergency room as a last resort and have these enormous medical invoices that everyone in America has,” said Barrientos.
During the first term of Trump, the non -supporter migration Policy Institute analyzed the scary, Documenting the steep reductions of low -income immigrants registering for food aid, health insurance and other public financial assistance to which they were eligible.
The Trump administration said it focused on migrants who have a threat of public security, although some families and defenders of immigration rights combat that immigrants without criminal records are Also arrested.
Find new ways to reach patients
With many immigrants Fear of leaving the houseHealth defenders are turning to social media to get their messages across. Mano A Mano organizes a weekly livestream to educate people on their advantages and try to relieve concerns.
Communityhealth plans to open a “micro-clinical” next month at the rear of the Chicago Yards district. The clinic will be hosted in the resurrection project, a non -profit organization that helps immigrants to everything, from affordable housing to legal services.
This would help reduce journey times for some patients, which can encourage them to continue to get their regular exams, said Willding.
In the meantime, to help protect patients, Willding will not authorize immigration agents or people who are not patients to linger in the waiting area or the lobby. Immigration officers generally Need to show a mandate Signed by a probable judge or cause to stop someone.
Back at the main clinic, Bavis, the nurse practitioner, remembers that the clinic has already crossed the challenges. Like the pandemic, or when Texas sent migrant buses to Chicago and thousands suddenly needed food, shelters and medical care. Clinics, churches and non -profit organizations questioned To help.
“Right now, I’m just thinking I’m looking for hope,” said Bavis. “I want to be strong for my patients and for my community, but I think that right now, it seems really difficult.”
This story comes from the NPR health report partnership with Wbez And Kff Health News.