THE IMAGE OF Marin County is one of affluence and privilege. Yet those of us who live here understand that many in our midst struggle to feed their families and provide for basic needs.
Far too many in Marin are one paycheck away from disaster. Without medical insurance, options for decent health care are few. It is estimated that more than 37,000 Marin residents have no health insurance.
Fortunately, the Marin Community Clinics have bridged the gap and its current expansion plan provides assurance that, at least here in Marin, every man, woman and child will have access to appropriate, quality, affordable health care.
The scenarios are quite ordinary. Mom and dad work but neither job comes with health-care benefits. A family house-painting business is forced to keep up with the high costs of fuel, as skyrocketing insurance premiums make it impossible to balance the books.
Marin Community Clinics has quietly served the working poor of Marin County for nearly 35 years. Each day its staff of dedicated doctors and staff see hundreds of patients who chose their providers. More than 14,000 Marinites came to the clinics last year for more than 50,000 appointments.
A visit to its Greenbrae clinic paints quite a picture. The clean, freshly painted waiting room - in worn portable buildings on the grounds of Marin General Hospital - overflows with mothers and children, elders and others, awaiting appointments. The Novato clinic facilities are aging and long outgrown. I'm told that more than 5,000 requests for appointments went unfilled this past year due to a lack of space. Many of them ended up in our overburdened emergency rooms rather than in a doctor's office.
And there's the issue of access. Imagine taking three buses for up to two hours with a sick child for a simple throat culture. With 24 percent of Marin Community Clinics patients residing in the Canal area of San Rafael, the need for a clinic in that neighborhood couldn't be clearer.
While the health-care crisis facing our nation is daunting, there's something that we can do right here in Marin to make a difference. Key stakeholders in the health of Marin residents have set aside partisan debate and are taking action. These partners - the county, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health and the Marin Community Foundation - are supporting the Marin Community Clinics to create a new three-clinic system, providing quality and compassionate medical and dental care to our lowest income residents.
We've chosen to live in a community that reflects our core values. Maintaining our community requires involvement. Consider taking action by joining those of us who are investing in a healthy future by making a significant gift to the "Building a Healthy Future" campaign this holiday season.
Please join me in supporting both the creation of a new Marin Community Clinics building in San Rafael and relocating clinic facilities in Novato to a larger space. This "Building a Healthy Future" campaign will result in more than 20,000 additional medical visits each year. All of Marin County benefits when its citizens are healthy.
Author Isabel Allende is a San Rafael resident.
The nonprofit Marin Community Clinic has raised $6.6 million of the $9.8 million it needs for its new San Rafael clinic and to move and upgrade its Novato facility.
For information on donating to the Marin Community Clinic capital campaign, go to www.marinclinic.org or call 448-1546.
