The Long Island Occupational and Environmental Health Center (LIOEHC) has begun implementing a new program to address health needs of migrant and underserved seasonal agricultural workers on Long Island. The new Migrant Worker Clinic is operated annually on select days from June through October; offering glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure screenings, along with education to prevent work-related injuries and improve general health conditions for migrant and underserved agricultural workers on Long Island. Screenings take place at the Half Hollow Nursery in Laurel and other locations and dates will be announced shortly.
“Migrant and seasonal farm workers often do not have access to health care or medications,” explains Dr. Linda Cocchiarella, Medical Director of LIOEHC and Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University Medical Center. “This – coupled with language barriers, lack of transportation, fear of losing work or even deportation – prevents this group of workers from receiving adequate medical attention. We want this new program to provide a coordinated and continuous approach to meeting the needs of these workers, and ultimately save uninsured costs by helping to prevent advanced disease and workforce accidents?” LIOEHC is working closely with the Spanish Apostolate, the Cornell Cooperative Extension, the
Long Island Farm Bureau, the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (
NYCAMH/NEC) and the
Department of Labor to identify migrant workers and provide educational services. Follow-up health services will be provided at participating community health centers, funded through a federal voucher program based on the 1962 Migrant Health Act.
