Eloy Enterprise - Congresswoman Kirkpatrick Returns to Eloy

News Article

By Lora Neu

In what Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick called a "week-long District work period," the District 1 Democratic U.S. House Representative took the time to stop in Eloy, Ariz. Monday and tour the new Pinal Hispanic Council facility and the Santa Cruz Valley Food Bank, which is housed in the CAHRA building.

Kirkpatrick, who was re-elected to her seat in the 2013 election, began her Eloy visit with Ralph Varela, CEO of Pinal Hispanic Council (PHC). She received a tour of the facility and explanations of exactly what the facility does. Varela was able to show her the exercise center and the kitchen, which both are key in the agency's goal to integrate medical care at their facility. The agency provides behavioral health services to individuals living in the Eloy, Picacho, Toltec, Coolidge and Casa Grande areas.

Varela explained that PHC has been working with Sun Life and hopes to have a doctor on site at PHC to address wellness issues affecting those who use PHC's services. He also pointed out that the integration of behavioral health with wellness/medical care is actually a national trend in the treatment of behavioral health.

He said that those with mental health issues are known to have a much shorter lifespan than those without--about 26 years shorter. So integrating the wellness component is key.

Often those who are undergoing treatment for mental health issues also have other health concerns such as obesity, diabetes, smoking, in addition to usually taking a lot of prescriptions. Having a wellness component onsite, integrated with the mental healthcare, will allow patients to see a doctor immediately if needed. Varela said PHC has been working closely with Sun Life to implement the plan.

Kirkpatrick said that she was impressed with what the agency is doing and that she agrees that medical care should be a part of mental healthcare, and that combining them was the right thing to do.

Varela said that PHC serves about 1500 people countywide and about 300-400 in the Eloy area each year. In addition to mental health services, the agency also provides family services. Patients are referred to them by doctors, law enforcement and other agencies. He also pointed out that the agency is not limited to Hispanic patients only, but serves everyone in PHC's demographic area.

PHC Clinical Director John Tellez, asked Kirkpatrick, "If you ever have a chance to vote with mental health parity," please do it. He was speaking of policies that require mental health disorders be paid for by insurance equally as any other health issues. While there are laws to that effect, some still believe there is much more to be done to address mental health treatment.

"I'm there 100 percent" with you, Kirkpatrick said.

On a less serious note, Kirkpatrick was given a greeting card from 11 Santa Cruz Valley High School students who had visited her in Washington, D.C. this year. Tanya Cruz, project coordinator for PHC, took the kids on a trip to New York and D.C., she said. The kids loved the trip, and it has been very popular. There are many students eager to visit the nation's Capital and meet with our representatives, Cruz added.

Kirkpatrick then moved on to tour the Santa Cruz Valley Food Pantry at the Community Action Human Resources Agency (CAHRA) at 109 N. Sunshine Blvd. in Eloy. Lucy Rangel, housing programs manager for CAHRA and Mary Lou Rosales, executive director at CAHRA, were justifiably proud to show off the new home of the local food bank.

The Santa Cruz Valley Food Bank had been operating out of a number of different locations over the years, but has now found a permanent home in the CAHRA building. Rangel said that the operation of the Food Bank has greatly improved since moving into the new location. They are now able to take fresh "gleaned" produce, and those who use their services find it easier to locate the Food Bank.

Talk turned serious as a group of about 10-12 people began the planned roundtable discussion. Representatives were there from PHC, CAHRA, the city of Eloy, the Eloy Chamber of Commerce, Cenpatico, and the Area Agency on Aging Region V--Pinal Gila Council for Senior Citizens, the Eloy City Council, business owners, as well as Kirkpatrick's Deputy District Director Blanca Varela.

The agenda for discussion was to include the sequester's affect on social services, economic development, and Medicaid expansion.

Eloy City Manager Ruth Osuna started the discussion with her concerns about the delay in approval of the Foreign Trade Zone for Eloy.

"For some reason we are not getting through to the department of commerce," Osuna said. She stated that she hoped to get Senators McCain and Flake involved to resolve the problem. Kirkpatrick responded that it was "very disappointing" that Eloy was not getting a better response from Washington.

Belinda Akes, executive director of the Eloy Chamber of Commerce, and a city councilwoman, also brought up the delays in getting the Union Pacific Red Rock switching station approved through the state of Arizona. Osuna added that the "main deterrent to growth" in Eloy is lack of jobs and adequate housing.

Projects such as the Foreign Trade Zone and the UP Redrock Switching Station could bring much-needed jobs to Eloy.

Job creation was also discussed in relation to Medicaid expansion. While acknowledging that it is currently an Arizona issue as to whether the Governor will get support to take the federal funds for Medicaid expansion, Varela pointed out that the issue was initiated on a federal level.

Without the expansion, or adding more people to the Medicaid rolls, Varela said that PHC could probably "squeeze through" on making ends meet at their present level of services. He pointed out that PHC has about "already outgrown" its present facility and level of services. Expanding services, rather than cutting them would lead to job creation, Varela said, and Kirkpatrick agreed.

"We'll keep an eye on that," she said.

Continuing with the idea of the negative impacts that sequestration cuts would have, CAHRA Executive Director Mary Lou Rosales feared that possible cuts would reduce funding and lead to a loss of some of their programs, such as home weatherization, as well as staffing.

Rosales acknowledged that cuts may be needed, but Kirkpatrick echoed Rosales' sentiments by saying, "But let's do it in a strategic way."

Rosales said that 39 percent of people in Eloy are the "working poor" as well as 37 percent in Pinal County overall. "It (sequester cuts) really will affect them," Rosales said.

Olivia Guerrero, president and CEO of the Area Agency on Aging Region V Pinal-Gila Council for Senior Citizens, said that funding cuts can have long-term impacts on the services that the elderly will require. If people don't receive the care they need early on, Medicaid and Medicare will end up paying out even more money later on to provide care for what would become a chronic illness.

"It makes so much more sense to fund at a lower level," Kirkpatrick said of keeping the funding available so people don't have to go to emergency rooms for care, or end up having chronic diseases that will require years and years of treatment.

"What the sequestration does is chip away at one person at a time," Guerrero said.

She also pointed out that one person may be receiving more than one service; they may be collecting social security, may be on Medicaid or Medicare, be utilizing mental health services, or CAHRA's weatherization help. As each piece is chipped away due to funding cuts, that leaves the individual without the support they need to stay healthy, and stay in their homes, and stay as independent as possible.

One last issue was brought up by Joel Belloc, city of Eloy vice mayor, and a business owner. Belloc asked Congresswoman Kirkpatrick to share what she knows and supports regarding immigration.

She said there is more bipartisan work going on in Congress this term, and that is what voters asked the representatives to do.

"So we're closer than ever to getting this done (immigration reform)," she said. "It feels like the will of Congress is to make it happen."

She said the House of Representatives is working very hard on the issue, and that she herself has been involved with setting up an immigration advisory group.

When Belloc asked her what about deportations, Kirkpatrick responded, "Breaking up families is not an American value."

In concluding the roundtable discussion, Kirkpatrick thanked everyone for taking the time to meet with her, and said that she would "take all your comments back with me." She said she hoped they could make such roundtable discussions and meetings a regular occurrence. She plans to speak at the Eloy Chamber of Commerce luncheon in September.

Kirkpatrick, an Arizona native, became Coconino County Deputy Attorney in 1980, then subsequently served as city attorney for Sedona. In November of 2004 she was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives for Legislative District 2. She served a term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2008-2010. In 2013, she was elected as U.S. Representative for District 1. She serves on the Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Kirkpatrick lives in Flagstaff now, and grew up in McNary on the White Mountain Apache Nation.

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