El Independiente

              Domingo Star, a member of Freire's Freestyling Team, "gets air" on his bike. Story Page 11.
Domingo Star, miembro de Freire's Freestyling Team, vuela por los aires en su bicicleta. Artículo en Plgina 11.
E1 Ipdepepclicpte
Candidatos: Representamos a todos
Por Rita Elsten
La elecci6n del 8 de noviembre podría resultar en la eleccid'n de
dos latinos para la junta directiva del condado de Pima (Pima
County Board of Supervisors). Esta serfis la primera ocasion en que
dos latinos desempeFan cargos en la junta en forma simultanea. Pero
ambos candidatos seffalaron que no mostrarn favoritismo por
ninguna comunidad en especial, si no que todas recibiri(n un trato
igualitario.
Nos importa el bienestar de la comunidad hispana pero represen-tamos
la totalidad de los intereses del condado de Pima," dijo el
dem6crata Raiíl Grijalva, quien disputa el puesto del quinto distrito
con el republicano Herbert B. Osborn.
Grijalva y Dan Eckstromex-alcaltle del Sur de Tucson y t'mico
candidato por el segundo distritodicen que aunque comparten
prioridades y objetivos similares, es poco probable que entre ellos
lleguen a constituir ana facci6n que trate solamente asuntos
hispanos.
High costs avoidable, health officials say
By D'VaI J. Westphal
First in a series
Last year Pima County picked up the tab for $2.7
million in unpaid medical bills at the county hospital.
Almost half a million dollars worth was related to births.
This year, Kino Community Hospital has asked the
county for $2.3 million to meet its "bad debts,"
including unpaid obstetric bills. But health care profes-sionals
say many of those could be avoided with better
prenatal care among the poor,
In fact, since it lowers the chances of complications
and premature births, prenatal care is cost-preventative
in the long run, said Donna L. Watt, assistant manager
of obstetrics at Kino.
"If the baby ends up being premature - for those
babies it can run into several hundred thousand dollars,"
Watt said, "A lot of times women show up at the door
and say, -'Gee, I'm contracting, I must be pregnant'
that's when you get into trouble, By the time they get to
us it's too late."
Prenatal care at Kino costs from $400 to $600, said
financial coordinator Maria E, Ríos. She said labor and
"Tenemos intereses en comij'n con respecto a lo social," dud'
Eckstrom. "Pero tambid'n llevamos la responsabilidad de asegurar la
admistracidn eficiente de los $529 millones del presupuesto del
condado."
Grijalva est de acuerdo. "El publico tiende a clasificar a los
candidatos minoritarios," dijcíel decano adjunto al concejo universi-tario
de asuntos hispanos en la Universidad de Arizona, Estereoti-pamos
es erroneos."
A Grijalva, de 40 anos de edad, quien fue miembro de la junta
directiva dei distrito escolar durante 12 a6os, se le conoce por su
interes en la educacit'n, el medio ambiente, la salud plíblica y otras
cuestiones sociales.
A Eckstrom, por su parte, se le conoce tanto por su actividad en el
comercio y el desarrollo econdmico como por su intert en asuntos
de salad piblica,
favor leer Candidatos Pa"gina 15
delivery costs are about $1,500 and doctor fees are
about $600.
'That's without complications," she said.
Compared to that $2,500 total, care for a baby born
three months premature can cost more than $300,000,
said Fern E. McLaughlin, senior public health nurse
with the county's Pregnancy Outreach Program,
"For every dollar you spend on prenatal care you're
saving $3 or $4 if the baby would have had to go into
intensive care," she said. Premature or low-birth-weight
babies requiring only a few days in intensive care can
accumulate bills of $30,000, McLaughlin said,
Complications and premature deliveries are where
most of the high costs occur, said Margaret R, Gibbs,
manager of Kino's Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic,
which provides prenatal care up to the time of labor and
delivery.
"Ones that become diabetic or ones with premature
deliveries - their babies are going to have to slay in
ICU, and that's big bucks," Gibbs said, "It's usually the
condition of the baby that resulta in costing the extra
money,"
Study details
housing blues
of Latinos
By Hip6lito Corella
Hispanics are twice as likely
to live in substandard housing
and four times as likely to live
in overcrowded conditions, a
recent national survey says.
The study, released this sum-mer
by the National Council of
La Raza, also shows that only
43 percent of Hispanics own
their homes, compared to 65
percent of the general popula-tion.
Related stories Page 5
The National Council of La
Raza is a Washington-based
Hispanic advocacy group with
about 80 affiliated local com-munity
service groups nation-wide.
"The study was designed to
influence federal housing legis-lation,"
said Tons Sharpe, a
spokesman for the group.
Almost half a million Hispa-nic
families are in danger of
losing their home because of the
current trend to "revitalize" eco-nomically
depressed areas by
replacing low-income or sub-standard
homes with more ex-pensive
ones, he said.
The addition of more expen-sive
property raises taxes in the
immediate area, often making it
too expensive for lower income
families to remain, he said.
Another 24,000 to 48,000
Hispanics currently living in
subsidized housing face possi-ble
eviction because of the ex-piration
of subsidy housing con-tracta
and the deterioration of
the low-income housing stock.
Absence of prenatal care fuels hospital debts
About two-thirds of the women who had their babies
ut Kino last year had some prenatal care, Watt said. But
that number can be deceiving, because the mother and
fetus need so be monitored throughout the pregnancy.
Some of it isn't good prenatal care just one or two
visits," Watt said, McLaughlin said 18 visita are usually
prescribed, and Gibbs agreed.
Fifty to 60 women begin prenatal care at the Kino
clinic each month, Gibbs said. And because they
continue visits throughout their pregnancy, they benefit
medically, psychologically and financially.
"It's the continuity of knowing the patient," she said.
"It's just knowing the patient and the problems we've
already screened Out. We can keep an eye Out and avert
problema. If you know what it is you can keep a handle
on it."
For example, complications such as urinary tract and
kidney infections, gestational diabetes and toxemia are
please see Prenatal, Page 15
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA Non.profit org.
Department of Journalism U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Tucson, Arizona 85721 Permit No. 190
Tucson, Arizona
Volume Ill Number 2 SOUTH TUCSON'S BILINGUAL NEWSPAPER OCTOBER 1988