On Thursday, the Health Dept. of Allen County, Indiana, which includes Ft. Wayne held an important meeting to assess the challenge the Department is facing with a large influx of Burmese refugees.   The most pressing issue is where to find the funds to head off potential health risks to the entire community.    Here are some facts according to the News-Sentinal:

Nearly $190,000 in additional funds will be needed to meet the health care needs of refugees coming to Fort Wayne, Department of Health Administrator Mindy Waldron said Thursday at a special meeting of the Board of Health.

_______

Indiana law requires local health departments to evaluate and treat refugees within 30 days of their arrival.

_______

Adding staff hours for the Infectious Disease Clinic is the largest need next year. Waldron outlined needs for staff and work hours to the board, calculating 183 more hours per week for medical and administrative staff — at a cost of nearly $160,000 — will be needed.

_______

Forty percent of Burmese refugees in Fort Wayne have noncontagious latent TB, McMahan said. If not tracked and treated, 10 to 15 percent will develop active TB. Treatment is expensive, requiring daily medications for months by a trained individual at the person’s home or workplace.

But in spite of the challenges, Ft Wayne says they are ready for more refugees:

Steensma [Health Dept. Board Member] asked the public to welcome the refugees. “It’s a burden to this department,” he said, “but it’s not a burden to the community.”

The Journal-Gazette story echoes this same theme:

In an average year, 100 to 200 Burmese refugees settle in Allen County, she [Catholic Charities representative] said. But secondary migration from other settlement communities accounts for an even greater portion of the Burmese population in Fort Wayne. Overall, the city is home to 3,000 to 3,500 Burmese people, one of the largest Burmese populations in the U.S.

________

In the meantime, board members said it was important that Burmese refugees are welcomed with open arms into the community.

Bottomline,  it is up to the community.   Some cities, counties and whole states have decided they cannot handle the burden of large numbers of refugees and that choice must be respected.   If Ft. Wayne and Allen County residents are all for resettling large numbers of refugees and attracting others through secondary migration, then that too is a choice we can’t argue with.

See our previous posts on Ft. Wayne here and here.    Check back later and I’ll put some information on Indiana in our “your state” page linked above.

Ho hum, here we go again.  Fort Wayne, Indiana facing an overload of refugees.   Apparently Allen County has been there, done that before.  Does anyone care?   Schools are overcrowded and a health crisis looms.    But, like so many outside the Washington Beltway they seem to be like sheep, whatever Washington wants, Washington gets?

Allen County may receive up to 800 refugees next year, more than four times the usual number. This year has also seen a dramatic increase with more than 700 refugees.

________

Estimated at more than 3,000, Fort Wayne’s Burmese population is already one of the largest in the United States.

_________

The majority of the incoming refugees are family reunification cases. Catholic Charities, as one of the many organizations nationwide used by the federal government to aid in resettlement, can’t turn any refugees away.

Catholic Charities can’t turn refugees away because they have a federal contract to resettle them somewhere.  But, the citizens of Ft. Wayne and Allen County can insist that the federal government cover the costs of the refugees’ schooling, welfare and health care.   These costs of a federal program should not be borne by the local community.   Or, Ft. Wayne could join other cities and just say NO! 

Oh, and speaking of health care, Allen County is still boo-hooing over the health problems they face.   We heard about this back in September, but it would appear that no one has bothered to complain to their federal elected officials.

About half the refugees are infected with latent tuberculosis, and treating the infection has strained the health department’s resources.

———–

But it must be done: About 10 percent of people carrying the non-contagious infection develop active, contagious tuberculosis if they are not treated with antibiotics, McMahan said.

————

About 10 percent of the refugees also have chronic active hepatitis B, she said.

One more thing, Ft. Wayne, if you continue to jump when Washington tells you, you might want to at least insist that Catholic Charities does its job and finds enough volunteers to care for the refugees’ needs. 

According to the Fort Wayne (IN) News-Sentinel today, the city and especially its Health Department are bracing for a wave of Burmese refugees.   200 are scheduled to arrive this fall and 800 are planned for 2008.   Catholic Charities and Church World Services are the primary volags involved.

Catholic Charities cannot turn down refugees, and must accept however many the State Department says it is sending.

Oh really?

McMahan  said about 50 percent of refugees arrive with TB infection and must be tested, treated and tracked. The TB clinic is already seeing a surge in patients this year, and they are sicker, she said, adding more nurses are needed now, even without the additional refugees.

_______

Refugees receive Medicaid benefits for eight months, which is why billing Medicaid will help the department meet the economic challenges. Providing immunizations to kids alone could be cost-prohibitive. For example, in six years, the cost to fully immunize a child by age 2 has risen from $240 to $1,100, McMahan said.

______

This year so far, 58 percent of Allen County’s active TB cases are among foreign-born individuals, compared to 22 percent in 2004.

This is all very interesting news on the eve of the Refugee Resettlement forum scheduled for Hagerstown, MD.   Church World Services and its subcontractor Virginia Council of Churches hope to convince us that Burmese refugees would bring lots of good things to our rural county when they meet with the community tomorrow night.