Texans Obtain Legal and Medical Assistance Through Innovative City Partnership Program
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Author: Jazmine Ullola
Source: The Brownsville Herald, “Medical Joins With Legal To Aid Clients”
Date: July 22, 2010
The Brownsville Herald writes: “For years, the traditional health-care system and the legal system have treated low-income, underserved populations in isolation, despite the strong connection between social stressors and health, partnership members said. But the [Brownsville Community] health center’s medical-legal partnership, which was founded in Brownsville in 2008, allows doctors and attorneys to work together to help patients like [Maria] Castilleja. ‘(It takes) a holistic approach to help vulnerable populations, providing health and legal aid services so that legal issues are not an impediment to treatment,’ said David Hall, executive director for [LSC funded] Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, the agency that joined with the city’s health center for the program. The partnership has been a ‘resounding success’ thus far, said Hall, who has been in touch with organizations looking to imitate the health-legal services model in Hidalgo and Bexar counties. Indeed, raising awareness of the program is not a problem, but resources are, he said. In the Brownsville area alone, there is only one attorney for every 25,000 potential clients. . . . Medical professionals say they too have seen the importance of the program through the high number of clients in just the last two years, said Paula Gomez, executive director for the Brownsville Community Health Center. The program’s mission also has helped medical professionals look into other issues that might be hurting the patient aside from the illness, she said.”