Global Health Program Annual Report 2021

Migrant Farmer
Outreach Program
This project has been about expanding access to preventative
healthcare for a population who doesn’t usually get it. This
population exists in the shadows of our communities and until
they have legal protection, I hesitate to call any attention to any
individuals or farms.
Benjamin
Clements, MD
Assistant Professor of Family
Medicine and Director of the
Global Health Program at
UVMLCOM
Access to healthcare services for the agricultural community
is fraught with individual and systemic barriers. The subset of
immigrant agricultural workers are arguably the most vulnerable
of all. A myriad of factors influence low health utilization among
this population including transportation challenges, language
barriers, work schedule conflicts, ineligibility for insurance, outof-pocket
cost, fear of leaving the farm, and a culture of health
that tends to be more responsive than preventative. At the same
time, BIPOC immigrant workers have increased risk of falling ill with
a communicable disease and passing it on to other members of
often small and crowded housing units.
From the Field
We just finished putting everything into the registry. Accompanied
by three medical students, one resident, and one nurse practitioner
student, we visited five farms and gave 94 vaccines, including first
COVID doses. Ninety-four! Incredible.
Many of those we saw yesterday either wouldn’t have otherwise
gotten these immunizations, would have delayed them, or wouldn’t
have had access.
Naomi Hodde, MD and
Benjamin Clements,
MD
About eight people who received booster shots yesterday are
headed home for a few months to countries where they don’t have
access to the same vaccines and sometimes access is restricted.
They will be better protected when they are home with their families
and when they return to continue to help sustain the agricultural
economy in Vermont.
The guys at Cabot are here on a work contract through the end of December. They were taken to a
vaccine site in Berlin the previous week by a coworker, but there wasn’t any interpretation available
nor anyone who explained to them the importance of getting a WHO- or US-approved vaccine if they
want to return to the US to work in the future. Only one of the ten decided to get vaccinated that day.
Yesterday, due to our collective presence and ability to take the time to talk to each and every one of
them and offer vaccines on the spot, the nine remaining individuals got their first dose of Pfizer and a
flu shot.
44 UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT LARNER COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND NUVANCE HEALTH