Amid false allegations about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, officials say these are real health problems.

While Ohio senator and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said the Haitian immigrants has caused rates of infectious diseases to be “raised” in Springfield, local health commissioner Chris Cook reviewed the reports.

They showed that in 2023, for example, there were four active cases of tuberculosis in Ohio’s Clark County, which includes Springfield, up from three in 2022. HIV cases were higher, but infections sexually transmitted infections are generally decreasing.

“I wouldn’t call it a spike,” Cook said, noting that there were 190 active cases in 2023 in all of Ohio. “You hear the talk. But in general, infectious diseases reported in the health sector are decreasing.”

Tensions are running high in Springfield, an industrial city of about 58,000 people. Bomb threats closed schools and public buildings after GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants — who he said were there legally — were there. stealing and eating domestic animals. City and county officials disputed the charges the former president leveled during his Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival.

Trump was reinforcing Vance’s comments that — along with his allegations about the nation’s immigration situation — were declared false. When asked during a CNN interview about the rumors of eating pets, Vance agreed that the image he created was not based on facts but “first-person reports from my constituents.” He said he was willing to “blow up” stories to focus on how immigration can affect society.

But Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, also a Republican, said immigrants has been an economic boon to Springfield. Many began to arrive because the city’s businesses, which had seen the population decline, needed workers.

Mostly lost in the political news is how Springfield and surrounding areas responded to the influx of Haitian immigrants. Local health centers tried to address the needs of these new residents, who lacked basic public health care such as immunizations and often did not understand the US health system.

The city is a microcosm of how immigration is changing communities across the United States. In the Springfield area, Catholic Charities, other charities, volunteers and regional organizations have come together over the past three to four years to address the challenge and connect immigrants with basic health needs. Good and caring providers.

For example, a public health agency hired Haitian Creole translators. The district health department opened a refugee health screening clinic to provide vaccinations and health check-ups, operating on such a small budget that it is only open two days a week.

And a coalition of groups to help the Haitian community was established two years ago to identify and respond to the needs of the immigrant community. The group meets once a month with about 55 or 60 participants. On Sept. 18, about a week after Trump raised the bar in the debate, 138 participants participated.

“We all learned the need for cooperation,” said Casey Rollins, director of Springfield’s St. Vincent de Paul, a non-profit Catholic social service organization that has become a way of life for many of the city’s Haitian immigrants. “There are a lot of medical needs. A lot of people have it high blood pressureor they often have diabetes.”

There are several reasons why Haitians have left their Caribbean country for the United States, including the devastating earthquake in 2010, political unrest following the 2021 assassination of the Haitian president , and ongoing gang violence. Although health centers in the country are open, it can be very treacherous for Haitians to visit for treatment.

“Typically gangs leave us alone, but that’s not a guarantee,” said Paul Glover, who helps oversee the St. Louis Center for Disabled Children. Vincent in Haiti. “We had a 3,000-square-foot clinic. It was destroyed. So was the X-ray machine. People have been leaving health care.”

An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitian immigrants live in Clark County, officials said. About 700,000 Haitian immigrants lived in the United States in 2022, according to US Census data.

Those who live in the Springfield area are usually in the country legally under a federal program that allows non-citizens to enter and stay in the United States temporarily under certain conditions, such as emergency relief, according to officials. of the city.

The influx of immigrants has created a learning opportunity for hospitals and primary care providers in Springfield, as well as for the newcomers themselves. In Haiti, people often go directly to the hospital for care for all kinds of ailments, and local officials and advocacy groups say many immigrants were unfamiliar with the US system of seeing primary care doctors. first or make an appointment for treatment.

Many sought care at Rocking Horse Community Health Center, a non-profit, federally accredited health center that provides mental health, primary and preventive care to people regardless of condition. their insurance or ability to pay. Health centers qualified by the government serve areas in need of medical assistance and citizens.

The center treated 410 patients from Haiti in 2022, more than 250% from 115 in 2021, according to Nettie Carter-Smith, director of the center’s public relations. Because patients needed translators, visits often took twice as long.

Rocking Horse employs patient sailors who are fluent in Haitian Creole, one of Haiti’s two official languages. Its purple bus offers on-site health screenings, vaccinations and chronic condition management. And this school year, it’s operating a $2 million health clinic at Springfield High.

Many Haitians in Springfield have reports threats from Trump and Vance made their city the target of this campaign. Civil society organizations could not identify any immigrants willing to be interviewed for this story.

Hospitals have also felt the effect. Mercy Health Regional Medical Center in Springfield also saw a rapid influx of patients, spokeswoman Jennifer Robinson said, with higher utilization of emergency, primary and health care services. the beauty of women.

This year, hospitals have also seen a backlog for struggling newborns as some new mothers have difficulty breastfeeding or access to supplemental milk, county officials said. . Another reason: New Haitian immigrants must wait six to eight weeks to enter a program that provides supplemental food for pregnant, lactating, or postpartum women, as well as children and babies.

At Kettering Health Springfield, Haitian immigrants come to the emergency department for non-emergency care. The nurses are working on two related projects, one focusing on cultural awareness for staff and the other exploring ways to improve communication with Haitian immigrants during the release and organizing meetings to follow.

Most immigrants have access to health insurance. People entering Haiti are generally eligible for Medicaid, a federal program for low-income and disabled people. For hospitals, that means lower premiums than traditional insurance.

In 2023, 60,494 people in Clark County were enrolled in Medicaid, about 25% of whom were Black, according to state data. That’s up from 50,112 in 2017, when 17% of enrollees were Black. That increase coincides with Haiti’s population growth.

In September, DeWine pledged $2.5 million to help health centers and the county health department meet the needs of Haiti and the wider community. The Republican governor has slammed the state’s recent comments in the city, saying the spread of false rumors has hurt the community.

Ken Gordon, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, acknowledged the challenges Springfield’s health system is facing and said the department is looking to contain a potential outbreak. measles, cough even polio.

People diagnosed with HIV in the district have increased from 142 residents in 2018 to 178 in 2022, according to data from the state health department. Cook, the Clark County health commissioner, said the data is delayed by 1.5 years.

But Cook said, “in general, all infections reported in the health sector are not increasing.” He said last year no one died of tuberculosis. “But 42 people have died from COVID.”

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