PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Asundi Garcia, Community Organizer, on Health + Hospitals and Vulnerable Communities
3:18:29
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140 sec
Asundi Garcia, a community organizer, testified about the importance of Health + Hospitals in supporting vulnerable and houseless communities, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Garcia emphasized the potentially devastating impact a doctors' strike could have on these populations and called for accountability from insurance companies.
- Garcia has been advocating for houseless and transient communities since 2014
- Health + Hospitals provided crucial support to vulnerable individuals during the pandemic
- The testimony highlighted the need for continued support of existing structures created during the pandemic for shelters and community services
- Garcia urged the council to hold insurance companies accountable for burdening doctors with paperwork instead of focusing on patient care
Asundi Garcia
3:18:29
There we go.
3:18:31
Are you able to hear me?
3:18:32
Yes.
3:18:32
Excellent.
3:18:33
Hi.
3:18:33
My name is Asundi Garcia.
3:18:36
I am a community organizer based on Elario, the east side.
3:18:41
I have quite a bit of a long story, but I started advocating for a houseless and transient community since 2014.
3:18:52
In 2019, when the death rate for the flu was about 16,000 a year, I went to the public advocate's office to explain and try to get a better idea of the kind of support that our most vulnerable were getting at that time.
3:19:05
Shortly after that, about 2 months later, there was a, news of what we now know as the COVID 19 pandemic.
3:19:14
During this time, the health and hospitals did everything in their power to ensure that those that were most vulnerable, who were not able to actually get to shelters, who were able to actually get some hygiene support, because a lot of the vulnerable and transient individuals who were living in the street without access to bathrooms, without access to any medication, without access to any support to the services that they relied on ended in health and hospitals.
3:19:44
Unlike our supreme court, I defer to the professionals to the need of the contracts and to the details of what needs to happen for them to be happy and well.
3:19:53
But I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that if the our doctors were to strike, this will mean death, continued death for our vulnerable, individuals.
3:20:06
I am still very much holding on to the strength of the structure that was created during the pandemic, specifically around, our shelters and our the services that are provided to the community.
3:20:21
I also have a tremendous respect for this council and for the work that you've done to make sure that you hold the pharmaceutical companies accountable.
3:20:29
And please, I would hope that you continue this work in actually holding the insurance companies accountable for the lack of effort and for the lack of time that they have put into actually caring for people and actually drowning our doctors in paperwork instead of actually supporting us.
3:20:48
Please hold them accountable.