Kingsville hospital gives help, hope

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Richard Morin, Christus Spohn Hospital Kleberg’s Chief Nursing Officer reviews a case with nurse Erica Rios-Garza, Patient Care Manager.

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Erica Rios-Garza told the story about a young girl and her brother who crossed the border from Mexico in September with the help of a Coyote, or a human smuggler.

The pair ended up at Christus Spohn Hospital Kleberg in Kingsville after the girl was bitten by a rattlesnake and the Coyotes told her brother to leave her and let her die, said Rios-Garza, a registered nurse who serves as patient care manager of the emergency room and the intensive care unit.

“Her brother didn’t want to leave her and he carried her to the side of the highway where they got help,” Rios-Garza said.

Hospital staff pitched in to get the girl clothes and shoes and of course, treated her wound and made sure she got clean.

“They are so appreciative of the care. They often cry with us because they have no one else,” she said.

The Christus Spohn Hospital Kleberg Emergency Department team discusses the day’s caseload during a meeting at the nurses’ station. Steven Alford for South Texas Catholic

Rios-Garza was not sure what happened to them after the girl was released. Sometimes, undocumented immigrants are sent back to their home countries immediately, and other times, they are given a citation and told when and where to appear for a court hearing, she said.

One thing is certain: when they come to the ER at Christus Spohn Kleberg for treatment, they are treated there with dignity and respect, regardless of the ability to pay, said Rick Morin, chief nursing officer there.

“When we talk about the mission of Christus Spohn we are also talking about Jesus Christ and his mission, which was to care for those who society had forgotten,” said Morin, who is also a permanent deacon at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Kingsville since 2008.

The hospital strives to care for each patient as an individual, with care and compassion, he said.

“That’s what drives me more each day than anything,” Morin said.

The main reason so many immigrants seek treatment at the hospital in Kingsville is its proximity to the border with Mexico, he said, adding he is not certain how many go to the valley for emergency treatment.

Morin did say that patient volume overall has decreased at Christus Spohn Kleberg, and that includes immigrant patients. He did not have any exact figures, but said reasons include federal health care reform in the U.S., the state of the economy and declining Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements to hospitals.

He added that there is a new urgent care clinic in Kingsville, which also treats emergency patients.

The Christus Spohn Hospital system provided $54.3 million in unpaid charity care in fiscal year 2014 for the 12-county area they serve in South Texas, said Katy Kiser, spokeswoman for the system.

Dr. Ricky Thomas has been the ER Director at Christus Spohn Kleberg for only two months and said immigrants who come needing immediate treatment come from Mexico and Central and South America. He sees a variety of patients with serious conditions, including serious dehydration because they have not eaten for three or four days, trauma such as broken bones, sometimes from being crowded onto trucks as they are transported across the border.

“They usually need to be hospitalized and have extensive rehydration for one or two days or longer,” he said.

Another common problem are infections from drinking bad water from animal cisterns during their journey, along with snake and insect bites, Thomas said. The majority of the immigrant patients are men. He sees some young women come into the ER, often after they have been sexually assaulted by the people who smuggle them across the border. A few of the women have been pregnant.

Thomas said he has not treated many children, but his colleagues have treated them. The hospital does not have any formal arrangements with authorities to bring in immigrant patients, he said, although the U.S. Border Patrol usually does bring them. The summer months are the busiest times for seeing these patients, Thomas said.

Treating the undocumented immigrants regardless of ability to pay when they come to U.S. hospitals can be a source of contention for some.

The mission statement for the Christus Spohn Hospital System is to “extend the healing mission of Jesus Christ and to treat all people with dignity and respect,” said Matthew Lohmeier, vice president of mission integration there.

He pointed to a December 2005 pastoral letter, “You Welcomed Me,” written by the Bishops of Arizona to parishes there on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In the letter, the bishops acknowledged the strong feelings parishioners there have about undocumented immigrants and the need for the U.S. to control its borders. The letter says the questions raised are valid and that there are no easy solutions to the problem. But still, parishioners in Arizona are urged to welcome and integrate the newcomers to make a strong and more united Catholic church while educating themselves on the issues and helping efforts to reduce poverty in Mexico .

“God doesn’t see the lines on the map we have drawn,” Lohmeier said.