Medical experts in Imperial County link climate and socio-economic status with health care challenges.
A person weaves through mist at the bus station in El Centro, one of two specially designated cooling zones during the extreme heat wave on July 16, 2024.
Diabetes patients on federal health insurance programs for the low-income and elderly commonly experience more complications when they live in areas experiencing extreme temperatures, according to a recent national study co-authored by Kacie Bogar, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Real-World Effectiveness and Safety of Therapeutics.
More than 70 people have died from heat related illness in Imperial Valley over the last three years. The community is still grieving the death of a 16-year-old girl who died late last month while running during her high-school physical education class. According to an online petition, the student collapsed after being forced to run. The temperature that day reached 112 degrees. The case is still under investigation.
Over half the county’s population relies on public health insurance. The service is crucial, but it has also heavily strained rural health care providers. Hospitals make more money by providing high cost services, many of which Imperial Valley hospitals can’t offer. “The body's trying to compensate, get rid of the excess sugar, and then they get severely dehydrated,” Mani said. He said people often die in the middle of the night or in the morning, and families are not aware of the causes, but it can very well be a result of high heat and diabetes.
The diabetes program has also suffered. Before the pandemic the diabetes education program had five staff members while now only two do the work. “I've had so many patients come here, who were like, I don't even know how to use this thing, no one showed me.”
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