LEXINGTON (Kentucky) HERALD-LEADER

July 12, 2006

By Megan Potter
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Standing in the lobby of the Bluegrass Farmworker Health Center, no one would know by the buzz of conversations in Spanish or the Hispanic art on the walls that the clinic is in Lexington. Modeled after health centers in Mexico, the clinic sets its primary patient base, Hispanic farmworkers, at ease as soon as they walk through the doors.

The health center is just one component of the Versailles Road Government Campus, a group of social-service organizations that seeks to help every cultural group in the Bluegrass.

The campus opened in May, after more than a year of construction. Aside from the clinic, the site includes the Cardinal Valley Center, the Metro Employees Credit Union, the Parks and Recreation Distribution Center, and the city's Archives and Records storage space.

"The building we shared before with the credit union and the city archives was antiquated, poorly lit and inefficient," said Jerry Hancock, enterprise superintendent of Parks and Recreation Department.

Similar circumstances plagued the Cardinal Valley Center at its old location on Oxford Circle. Despite space shortages, the center managed to provide room for the Bluegrass Farmworker Health Center, a program run on a grant received through Eastern Kentucky University. Both the social-service center and the health clinic adapted as the community evolved, offering more services in Spanish.

When the Versailles Road Government Campus opened, the two groups of service organizations became common tenants in the newly renovated building, which used to be a lumber company.

"Compared to the old building, this is like the Taj Mahal. We used to have makeshift dividers between exam rooms, and we'd have to move to look at a rash or an injury because some rooms didn't have real lighting, we just used lamps," said Dr. Kamara Garner with the health center.

At the new location, exam rooms not only have better lighting, they have sinks and computers as well. Managing the clinic's sliding fees system, the computers store information about the patients' income and adjust prices accordingly. That way, all farmworkers have the responsibility to pay for services, without the impossible burden of a normal medical bill.

"I really enjoyed knowing that there is a safe and accessible place to send some of our families, a place where they know they'll be understood," said Trish Horstman, coordinator of the Cardinal Valley Elementary School's Family Resource Center.

Horstman said the health center's emphasis on preventative medicine addresses issues most hospitals aren't vocal about. The clinic has posted fliers on HIV screening and mammograms all over the neighborhood.

The health center focuses on being approachable to its clients. Culturally familiar decorations, and consultations available in Spanish, allow the clinic to draw patients from the large migrant population of Kentucky farm laborers.

Enrique Gonzalez's artwork in the health center reflects the cultural unity of the clinic. In bold colors and an elongated style, he painted Kentucky horse and tobacco farms with Mexican workers in the fields -- a piece he titled Working the Land with Care. Five pieces of his art, along with work by Augustine Zarate, demonstrate the Hispanic community's desire to protect the health of the land and their families with the help of the clinic.

Over the years, the health center has treated more of the worker's families.

"Lexington is a welcoming place for the migrant community; it's a tolerant city -- men who originally would move through and work tobacco are bringing wives and kids," said Ruth Brown, outreach coordinator for the health center.

Hispanics make up 98 percent of its patient base, but the health center offers services to farmworkers of any ethnic background.

"Since the center started we have seen a 250 percent growth in population of the patients we serve. We plan to continue keeping our commitment to meeting people where they are in terms of culture and values." Said Dr. Susan Fister, director of the health center. Fister worked with the original EKU team to write the health center's grant.

Like the clinic, the Cardinal Valley Center emphasized the fact that it serves any and all members of the Bluegrass community. All services are available in English and Spanish; it provides counseling, consultations, job listings, and language classes.