The director of Yuma Regional Medical Center, the only hospital in the southwestern Arizona border city of Yuma, warned that he has been forced to delay care for locals to treat illegal immigrants who are currently overwhelming the facility and the hospital's staff:
It is unfair to the residents of our community because we are providing free care to these people (...) The residents of our community do not receive free care.
Dr. Robert Trenschel, the center's president and CEO spoke to Fox News and said that in six months, the hospital has accumulated millions of dollars in unpaid bills, as it spent $20 million to care for the immigrants. That money came out of the hospital's pockets and there is no way to compensate for the lost expenses:
It is an unsustainable model to have this unexpected expense without any income to offset it. It is a no-win situation.
An under-resourced and understaffed hospital
Trenschel commented that the hospital staff is overburdened and tired, and many of the workers face language barriers, as very few illegals speak English. In addition, he said that the center is running "out of resources" and is unable to provide sufficient medical equipment to ensure a "safe" discharge from the hospital:
We are running out of resources. We had to hire additional staff (...) These people require at least three times the amount of human resources to resolve their cases and obtain a safe discharge as a regular patient in our hospital.
The center's maternity unit is one of the most affected areas. This area exceeded its maximum capacity due to the fact that most of the immigrant patients requiring care are pregnant. In addition, the nearest hospital, 62 miles away, recently stopped providing maternity services:
We would have to delay some of the planned inductions for our residents because of that (...) Our residents have had to suffer because of that.
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Mayorkas hasn't responded
Trenschel concluded by stating that he has discussed the hospital's concerns with Arizona officials and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. He said he hopes the federal government will find a solution to cover the unpaid medical expenses:
People pay attention and are willing to listen, but no one has solutions, we have been at this for over a year (...) If we continue to have these extraordinary expenses that are not reimbursed, it could have a significant impact on the hospital (...) We need a source of payment for this hospital to remain sustainable, viable for the future.
