די NAACP האט געעפנט א קאמף קעגן די מאנסי העלט סענטער נייע אפטיילונג וואס הייסט "בען גילמאן" מעדיקעל סענטער, אז זיי זאלן מוזן זיין אויפן שבת קודש, דער בעל הבית פונעם סענטער פרובירט זיך צו האלטן פעסט אז ער מוז נישט עפענען שבת, פונקט ווי די קאונטי אפיסעס זענען אפגעשפארט, און די גוים קעמפן מיט די טענה אז דער סענטער באקומט יערליך פעדעראלע גרענטס פון "אלע" שטייער צאלער און ממילה מוז עס זיין אפען 7 טעג א וואך, די העלט סענטער קעמפט צוריק אז אנדערע מעדיקל סענטער פון אנדערע רעליגיעס טשעפעט מען נישט ווען זיי רעספעקטירן זייער רעליגיע.
Health center pledges to expand services
By SUZAN CLARKE
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: September 16, 2005)
SPRING VALLEY — A community medical center that receives public funding has agreed to open seven days a week following complaints that its policy of closing on Saturdays was preventing members of the predominantly working-class community from getting basic health care.
While community leaders said they hoped operators of the Ben Gilman Medical and Dental Clinic would honor the agreement forged through the mediation of county Human Rights Commissioner S. Ram Nagubandi, others said a resolution should not have been so long in coming.
In a June 27 letter to Nagubandi's office, Merle George, first vice president of the Spring Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, wrote that the clinic and its sister site, the Monsey Medical and Dental Center, were guilty of "blatantly discriminating in their practice of closing on Saturdays."
Nagubandi responded by meeting with Mendel Hoffman, president and chief operating officer of Community Medical and Dental Care Inc., which runs the clinics.
The Gilman clinic, which opened in March, was touted as a facility that would provide first-class, convenient care with special emphasis on communicating with the diverse community.
The clinics have been the subject of prior community complaints, among them that staffers were not responsive to the needs of non-English speaking immigrants or the undocumented or the uninsured.
The center's administration has disputed the claims, saying they resulted from miscommunication and inaccurate information provided to residents by local organizations. Those issues have been resolved, said Sharon Milner, executive director of the centers.
The sessions with Nagubandi led to the Aug. 24 meeting in the office of Spring Valley Mayor George Darden, and the outcome was promising, Nagubandi said.
Hoffman promised to investigate opening the Gilman center on Saturdays, maintaining staff diversity to better accommodate the needs of the heterogenous community, having speakers of other languages on staff, and providing more external diversity training.
"There were some tense moments" in the meeting, Nagubandi said, but added he was pleased by the outcome. "There were some misunderstandings, but it's my belief that Mr. Hoffman went out of his way to address the issues, and we strongly believe the clinic is doing a good job, and it is needed in the community."
In fact, the center has hired a Creole and Spanish speaker, Chantal Blackwell, and plans continued health fairs to reach out to the community, Milner said recently.
A new dental mobile vehicle is expected to start serving low-income communities in Rockland soon, she added.
Milner said the Gilman clinic has served its patrons well, adding said she did not know the source of the NAACP's objections.
Hoffman, when asked why the center closed on Saturdays, said: "Why is the county closed Saturday? The center is going to be open seven days a week ... as soon as we have it staffed appropriately."
That could take up to 90 days from the Aug. 24 meeting, he said.
The Monsey and Spring Valley centers are closed to honor the Jewish Sabbath, Milner said.
But the NAACP, which resigned from the community collaborative that works with the center, charged that closing on Saturdays was exclusionary and inconvenient. Religion should not dictate operating hours for a center in receipt of public tax dollars, NAACP President Willie Trotman said.
The NAACP's suggestion is flawed, Milner replied.
Other health institutions, among them Suffern's Good Samaritan Hospital, a Catholic organization, operate according to the tenets of their faith and no one objects, she said.
Milner said there had been no complaints raised about the Saturday closings at the Monsey center, which serves many people from Spring Valley.
"Everybody comes on Sunday to Monsey. What is the difference if you come on Sunday to Monsey or come to Spring Valley?" Milner asked. "There is no difference."
The center has repeatedly made promises that have not been fulfilled, and the recent transfer of former site director Marsha Boddie from the Gilman center to the Monsey site meant the loss of an active community liaison, said Gail Golden, co-chairwoman of the Rockland Immigration Coalition.
"We've had ongoing concerns about a lack of responsiveness to diverse communities from these health centers," she said. "I think it's very sad that the NAACP and the Human Rights Commission need to get involved on this level. ... I think when people receive federal tax dollars, they're spending all of our money, and they have an obligation to serve all the people."
That is what the center does, Milner said, as she walked through the busy center on a recent weekday, shortly after Jill Poynter of Pomona was seen for a follow-up visit there.
Poynter, a former patient at the Monsey site, said she liked coming to the new clinic.
"For me, it's easier to find," Poynter, 45, said. "It's much faster to be seen."
About an hour later, Isidro Utrera, 21, and Janira Rojas, 22, were waiting to see Dr. Robi Rosenfeld.
The Spring Valley couple had brought their 2-month-old son, Angel Utrera, to be checked because he had a congested chest.
The couple used to visit the Monsey site, but switched to the Gilman center because it was more convenient.
"They're very nice, the people out front," Utrera, speaking in Spanish, said of the center's staff.
But his girlfriend mentioned the lack of adequate Spanish-speaking staff, and Utrera concurred.
"I speak a little English, but there are many people who come here who don't speak it at all," Utrera said, adding he spoke enough to get by generally, but "not enough to explain what my son has."
Shortly after Rosenfeld entered the exam room, Blackwell was called to translate.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050916/NEWS03/509160324/1019/NEWS03
By SUZAN CLARKE
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: September 16, 2005)
SPRING VALLEY — A community medical center that receives public funding has agreed to open seven days a week following complaints that its policy of closing on Saturdays was preventing members of the predominantly working-class community from getting basic health care.
While community leaders said they hoped operators of the Ben Gilman Medical and Dental Clinic would honor the agreement forged through the mediation of county Human Rights Commissioner S. Ram Nagubandi, others said a resolution should not have been so long in coming.
In a June 27 letter to Nagubandi's office, Merle George, first vice president of the Spring Valley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, wrote that the clinic and its sister site, the Monsey Medical and Dental Center, were guilty of "blatantly discriminating in their practice of closing on Saturdays."
Nagubandi responded by meeting with Mendel Hoffman, president and chief operating officer of Community Medical and Dental Care Inc., which runs the clinics.
The Gilman clinic, which opened in March, was touted as a facility that would provide first-class, convenient care with special emphasis on communicating with the diverse community.
The clinics have been the subject of prior community complaints, among them that staffers were not responsive to the needs of non-English speaking immigrants or the undocumented or the uninsured.
The center's administration has disputed the claims, saying they resulted from miscommunication and inaccurate information provided to residents by local organizations. Those issues have been resolved, said Sharon Milner, executive director of the centers.
The sessions with Nagubandi led to the Aug. 24 meeting in the office of Spring Valley Mayor George Darden, and the outcome was promising, Nagubandi said.
Hoffman promised to investigate opening the Gilman center on Saturdays, maintaining staff diversity to better accommodate the needs of the heterogenous community, having speakers of other languages on staff, and providing more external diversity training.
"There were some tense moments" in the meeting, Nagubandi said, but added he was pleased by the outcome. "There were some misunderstandings, but it's my belief that Mr. Hoffman went out of his way to address the issues, and we strongly believe the clinic is doing a good job, and it is needed in the community."
In fact, the center has hired a Creole and Spanish speaker, Chantal Blackwell, and plans continued health fairs to reach out to the community, Milner said recently.
A new dental mobile vehicle is expected to start serving low-income communities in Rockland soon, she added.
Milner said the Gilman clinic has served its patrons well, adding said she did not know the source of the NAACP's objections.
Hoffman, when asked why the center closed on Saturdays, said: "Why is the county closed Saturday? The center is going to be open seven days a week ... as soon as we have it staffed appropriately."
That could take up to 90 days from the Aug. 24 meeting, he said.
The Monsey and Spring Valley centers are closed to honor the Jewish Sabbath, Milner said.
But the NAACP, which resigned from the community collaborative that works with the center, charged that closing on Saturdays was exclusionary and inconvenient. Religion should not dictate operating hours for a center in receipt of public tax dollars, NAACP President Willie Trotman said.
The NAACP's suggestion is flawed, Milner replied.
Other health institutions, among them Suffern's Good Samaritan Hospital, a Catholic organization, operate according to the tenets of their faith and no one objects, she said.
Milner said there had been no complaints raised about the Saturday closings at the Monsey center, which serves many people from Spring Valley.
"Everybody comes on Sunday to Monsey. What is the difference if you come on Sunday to Monsey or come to Spring Valley?" Milner asked. "There is no difference."
The center has repeatedly made promises that have not been fulfilled, and the recent transfer of former site director Marsha Boddie from the Gilman center to the Monsey site meant the loss of an active community liaison, said Gail Golden, co-chairwoman of the Rockland Immigration Coalition.
"We've had ongoing concerns about a lack of responsiveness to diverse communities from these health centers," she said. "I think it's very sad that the NAACP and the Human Rights Commission need to get involved on this level. ... I think when people receive federal tax dollars, they're spending all of our money, and they have an obligation to serve all the people."
That is what the center does, Milner said, as she walked through the busy center on a recent weekday, shortly after Jill Poynter of Pomona was seen for a follow-up visit there.
Poynter, a former patient at the Monsey site, said she liked coming to the new clinic.
"For me, it's easier to find," Poynter, 45, said. "It's much faster to be seen."
About an hour later, Isidro Utrera, 21, and Janira Rojas, 22, were waiting to see Dr. Robi Rosenfeld.
The Spring Valley couple had brought their 2-month-old son, Angel Utrera, to be checked because he had a congested chest.
The couple used to visit the Monsey site, but switched to the Gilman center because it was more convenient.
"They're very nice, the people out front," Utrera, speaking in Spanish, said of the center's staff.
But his girlfriend mentioned the lack of adequate Spanish-speaking staff, and Utrera concurred.
"I speak a little English, but there are many people who come here who don't speak it at all," Utrera said, adding he spoke enough to get by generally, but "not enough to explain what my son has."
Shortly after Rosenfeld entered the exam room, Blackwell was called to translate.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050916/NEWS03/509160324/1019/NEWS03