Posted on 12/18/2007 10:24:00 AM PST by freespirited
Pregnant mothers with insufficient prenatal care represented 40 percent of the 2,665 births at Prince William Hospital last year, an alarming rate that caused medical problems and hampered the institution's bottom line.
Medical concerns related to the county's recent influx of illegal and legal immigrants emerged as an important health issue during a federal hearing Friday in Woodbridge.
"To our hard-working labor and delivery nurses, for instance, this lack of prenatal care is heartbreaking, and frankly, frustrating," hospital President Michael Schwartz told Virginia's arm of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
The cost for handling prenatal care has jumped more than $1.5 million since 2001, he said.
"In addition to our operating costs, we've had to expand our delivery room, operating room and emergency room."
Although hospital officials never check the residency status of patients, Schwartz said there has been a ballooning need for treating uninsured residents in the last six years.
The author of the county's new illegal immigration law, a demographer and the county's top politician, administrator and police chief were among 11 other witnesses at the hearing Friday.
The panel, led by chairwoman Linda Chavez, questioned whether there was sufficient reason for the county's illegal immigration crackdown, passed in October, and expressed concern it could foster prejudicial treatment against Hispanic immigrants, both legal and illegal.
The county appeared to rely too much on emotional appeals from residents about the impact of illegal immigrants and not enough on facts when it approved its law, she said.
But county officials said there was clear evidence of illegal immigration's impact in the criminal justice system and jail, where illegal immigrants accounted for more than 20 percent of the population.
"First and foremost, the reason that this community decided to address the problem is because of public safety," County Chairman Corey Stewart said. He quickly listed three illegal immigrant suspects who had been involved in the murders of seven people in recent months, including a triple murder in Woodbridge last weekend.
Local police officers are scheduled to start checking suspected illegal immigrants who commit minor crimes or traffic violations for federal immigration violations under a policy set to start in March.
The bias here is glaring. They question whether *sufficient* evidence exists to justify the new measures. But they offer *no* evidence to support their concerns that the measures are bad ... i.e. no evidence that this so-called prejudicial treatment is happening.
At the same time, illegals aren't supposed to be here in the first place. Is it prejudicial treatment if ICE deports them?
I’m sick of hearing about how legal immigrants are being discriminated against. Bring your G.D. Green card with you, like you’re supposed to, and people will be able to determine if they’re dealing with an immigrant or an illegal alien.
While they do not check the residency status of patients, like all good government organizations they do check the race of patients.
Pregnant mothers with insufficient prenatal care represented 40 percent of the 2,665 births at Prince William Hospital last year
Last year there were 3016 Hispanics treated and released from this hospital. One has to wonder why the hospital chose not to release the number of these births lacking prenatal care that were Hispanic? They have it on record just exactly how many of these births are Hispanic, but that data is obviously missing here.
It is apparent they wish only to present the facts that further their agenda and obfuscate any facts that may hinder that agenda.
The liberal left and the likes of LaRaza are too ignorant to know that most of us are aware that 16 year old Mexican girls are spewing offspring in horrendous numbers ...so they try at every turn to hide the facts...it's just that every bario in the southwest is like a scene from Soylent Green....only babystrollers and post pube teens everywhere...and in the middle of a school day no less... let's see....no school ...no job...three babies...only in America!! What a country!! (heavy sarc.)
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