Imagine getting sick and going to a medical office, only to find that no one there speaks your language.

For the 8,000-plus Hispanic migratory and seasonal farm laborers in central Kentucky and just as many family members, that's a common occurrence. But language and cultural barriers will no longer be an obstacle to primary health care, thanks to the Bluegrass Farmworkers Health Center, to be opened by EKU July 2. Funded by a two-year, $600,000 renewable federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to EKU's College of Health Sciences, it is the only such federally-funded center nationwide operated by a college or university.

The Center will initially consist of two facilities - one on the EKU campus and another that is scheduled to open Aug. 1 at the Cardinal Valley Center, 1916 Oxford Circle, Lexington to serve migrant and seasonal farm workers in Madison, Fayette, Garrard, Jessamine, Woodford, Bourbon, Clark and Scott counties. A third location will be added in Lexington later this year.

The public - especially medical personnel, social service workers, farmers who employ migrant workers and migrant workers themselves - are invited to an open house at the EKU facility, located at 509 Brockton behind the Dizney Building, Thursday, June 7 from 4 to 7 p.m.

"We want to provide quality primary health care in a culturally competent manner with language support," said Dr. Susan Fister, program director and an associate professor of baccalaureate and graduate nursing at EKU. "I see this as a comfortable, embracing environment for them to receive medical care, a place where they know they'll encounter people who speak their language."

All Center staff members - currently including two from Venezuela, one from Mexico and one from Puerto Rico - are bilingual. According to Fister, about 70 percent of the migrant farm laborers speak no English, and only about 15 percent speak it well.

The Center will be staffed by a nurse practitioner, an outreach supervisor, two outreach workers and a program assistant. In addition, Berea physician Dr. Jon Strauss, Richmond dentist Dr. James Ney and Richmond pharmacist Charles Kluesner have volunteered their services as medical director, dental director and pharmacy director, respectively.

Because the Center's prospective clients are not covered by Medicaid/Medicare, the maximum charge for those seen by a nurse practitioner will be a $10 co-payment. The fee will be waived for those clients unable to pay. Those in need of dental, laboratory, pharmacy or radiology services will be referred to the Center's contracted providers.

Besides routine primary medical care, the Center also will provide preventative, such as TB screenings and blood pressure checks, and health education. Occasionally, the Center will take its services on the road to provide even easier access for its clients. Several social agencies, such as Kentucky River Foothills, also have volunteered their assistance in various ways.

Migrant farm laborers won't be the only beneficiaries of the Center. Because of its campus location, it also is expected to serve as a focal point for student and faculty involvement from a variety of academic disciplines. For example, nursing and health education students will assist with health screenings and health education. Occupational therapy students can provide services related to their field, Spanish students can help with translating and interpreting and family and consumer science students can facilitate parenting classes. "The possibilities seem endless," Fister said. "I envision this Center as sort of like Model Laboratory School, but for the health sciences."

EKU's College of Education will coordinate an annual Kentucky Farmworker Health and Education Conference addressing the health, social and educational needs of farm workers.
For more information about the Center, or to volunteer services, call 859-622-2524.