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babylonsister

(171,031 posts)
Tue May 5, 2020, 09:56 PM May 2020

Native American health center asked for COVID-19 supplies. It got body bags instead.


Native American health center asked for COVID-19 supplies. It got body bags instead.
"Are we going to keep getting body bags or are we going to get what we actually need?" a Seattle Indian Health Board official asked.
May 5, 2020, 5:56 PM EDT
By Erik Ortiz


In mid-March, as the Seattle region grappled with a coronavirus outbreak, a community health center caring for the area's Native American population made a pressing request to county, state and federal health agencies: Please send medical supplies.

What it received almost three weeks later left staff members stunned.

"My team turned ghost white," said Esther Lucero, chief executive officer of the Seattle Indian Health Board. "We asked for tests, and they sent us a box of body bags."

The health board's center — serving about 6,000 people a year in Seattle and King County — still has the package, which is filled with zippered white bags and beige tags that read "attach to toe."

Lucero said the body bags were a mistaken — yet nonetheless macabre — delivery from a distributor via King County's Public Health Department.

Abigail Echo-Hawk, the health board's chief research officer, said she believes that the message it sends, even unintentionally, is resonating in Native American communities across the United States during the pandemic: There is a pressing lack of adequate resources and funding as promised.

more...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-american-health-center-asked-covid-19-supplies-they-got-n1200246
19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Native American health center asked for COVID-19 supplies. It got body bags instead. (Original Post) babylonsister May 2020 OP
I am really hoping that was a mistake Skittles May 2020 #1
There's always the OP. Igel May 2020 #4
yes I know, I read it Skittles May 2020 #8
Wow. Solly Mack May 2020 #2
I haven't been to either of our local reservations in a while, but i remember my visits to the... TreasonousBastard May 2020 #3
Hey pal, Ive worked for the IHS now for 5 years GusBob May 2020 #6
these look ok Celerity May 2020 #17
One of them may be my next assignment! GusBob May 2020 #18
The more I learn about the entire history of the treatment of the native Americans, the more Celerity May 2020 #19
Where should we send the money for these folks? raging moderate May 2020 #5
The Navajo Nation is in dire need in New Mexico GusBob May 2020 #7
There are 2 that I found GusBob May 2020 #9
What a ghoulish slap in the face. How awful. crickets May 2020 #10
Very Evocative of the Small Pox Laden Blankets! McKim May 2020 #15
Just when you think it cannot get worse... nt Hekate May 2020 #11
As long as trump is president, that IS Covid-19 supplies. Volaris May 2020 #12
Tears of Rage McKim May 2020 #13
"It was just a Freudian slip" struggle4progress May 2020 #14
This is digusting! n/t ffr May 2020 #16

Skittles

(153,111 posts)
1. I am really hoping that was a mistake
Tue May 5, 2020, 09:58 PM
May 2020

but these days it is just getting harder to give anyone the benefit of the doubt

Igel

(35,270 posts)
4. There's always the OP.
Tue May 5, 2020, 10:10 PM
May 2020

Which says,


Lucero said the body bags were a mistaken — yet nonetheless macabre — delivery from a distributor via King County's Public Health Department.


Sometimes having "moderate trust" as the default setting is a good thing. This is King County.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_County,_Washington
King County and Seattle are strongly liberal; the area is a bastion for the Democratic Party. No Republican presidential candidate has garnered the majority of the county's votes since Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection victory in 1984. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama defeated John McCain in the county by 42 percentage points, a larger margin than any previous election. Slightly more than 29% of Washington state's population reside in King County, making it a significant factor for the Democrats in a few recent close statewide elections.

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
3. I haven't been to either of our local reservations in a while, but i remember my visits to the...
Tue May 5, 2020, 10:05 PM
May 2020

Indian Health Service clinics weren't very encouraging. Do they even exist in seattle/

GusBob

(7,286 posts)
6. Hey pal, Ive worked for the IHS now for 5 years
Tue May 5, 2020, 10:20 PM
May 2020

In various areas as a health care specialist . I dont know where you are at but the facilities I have been in are modern, clean, well managed and staffed with hard working dedicated folks.

And after everything we have been thru these past 8 weeks, I take umbrage with your post. Your perception is way off and contributes to stereotypes

Especially seeing as how we are going thru the problem discussed in the OP. A serious assed shortage of PPE.

GusBob

(7,286 posts)
18. One of them may be my next assignment!
Wed May 6, 2020, 03:03 PM
May 2020

My has been its not the building but the folks therein. This whole COVID thing has reinforced what I have long known: I work with heroes dealing with Nations with very many problems.

Our clinic has really bonded thru this mess

Celerity

(43,079 posts)
19. The more I learn about the entire history of the treatment of the native Americans, the more
Wed May 6, 2020, 03:17 PM
May 2020

hateful I become towards the US government. So utterly few actually give a shit either. Out of sight, out of mind, unless they are a fucking mascot for a fucking sports team.

I had best shut myself down here.

raging moderate

(4,292 posts)
5. Where should we send the money for these folks?
Tue May 5, 2020, 10:13 PM
May 2020

I can spare a little more money. Maybe if a bunch of us sent some, it would help. But I am 72 and basically a Luddite. I looked through the article, but I don't see a website. Any advice? This evening, I finally found a website to receive money for the Navajo tribe medical needs. At least, I HOPE it was legitimate. I have a little left for these guys.

GusBob

(7,286 posts)
7. The Navajo Nation is in dire need in New Mexico
Tue May 5, 2020, 10:22 PM
May 2020

They are the hardest hit and are accepting donations I will see if I can find a link

GusBob

(7,286 posts)
9. There are 2 that I found
Tue May 5, 2020, 10:34 PM
May 2020

A go fund me
Navajo and Hopi Families Covid-19 Relief Fund

And a website: Navajo Nation Covid-19 Fund

Speaking from my current experience at a Native Health Care Center, more than money masks, gloves and disinfecting wipes are in short supply

crickets

(25,951 posts)
10. What a ghoulish slap in the face. How awful.
Tue May 5, 2020, 11:14 PM
May 2020

On top of it all, Jared the Wonder Jerk has made it almost impossible for any government organization outside of FEMA to get decent supplies without spending millions and resorting to Mission: Impossible tactics to assure delivery. It's just not right. Something has got to give.

eta

Meanwhile, Lucero said, the county did help deliver about 200 COVID-19 test kits through FEMA.

She welcomed those tests because unlike the earlier ones, the health board was permitted to use their own lab to process the tests and communicate the results to patients directly.


I am glad to hear they finally got some tests after all. (Not many.) The relief money is still being held up though. *sigh*

McKim

(2,412 posts)
15. Very Evocative of the Small Pox Laden Blankets!
Wed May 6, 2020, 12:12 AM
May 2020

This is very evocative of the small pox laden blankets that were given to Native Americans in the 19th Century!

McKim

(2,412 posts)
13. Tears of Rage
Wed May 6, 2020, 12:02 AM
May 2020

Tears of rage tonight for this unbelievable insult! Our daughter did her family medicine residency with this wonderful clinic. I can’t say enough about the kindness and feeling of family that our daughter experienced at this fine clinic. It serves Native Americans and many immigrants in the International District in Seattle. I am writing them a letter and giving a donation to take away the sting of this betrayal. I am calling my senators and representatives tomorrow.

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