Clinic sees drop in patients during Border Patrol activity

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A health clinic that says 90% of its patients are Hispanic saw a dramatic drop in traffic this week, which they attribute to the presence of Border Patrol in Charlotte. 

Centro Medico Latino has four locations and its main clinic is in East Charlotte.  

Medical director Dr. Carlos Rish said Saturday is usually the busiest day for the clinic, which coincided with the day federal agents started their operations in Charlotte.

“We’re fully booked. The office was bustling and as the afternoon came in and people started hearing that CBP was in town, people started leaving,” Rish said. “This profiling that’s occurring is causing a lot of fear in the community. Patients are afraid to come.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security, there have been 370 arrests during the operation and 44 of them were undocumented people with criminal history.

The trend of canceled appointments at Centro Medico Latino continued through the week. 

“The parking lot was without any cars, and the clinic was absolutely empty. It was very disheartening,” Rish said. 

The missed appointments concern Rish. 

“We have patients who need medication who aren’t able to get it, obviously, but there’s a fear because we have a lot of patients that are really sick and diabetics, for example, who run out of their insulin and have the risk of going into complications [or] a coma,” Rish said.

Rish and his team came up with a plan to reach the community, implementing measures used during the pandemic, including offering telehealth services. They are also setting up medication deliveries with pharmacies, sending health providers to homes and paying for patients’ rides to the clinic.

“We’re picking up the cost of that transportation so the patient can come in and feel safe and not be fearful that they’re driving in town,” Rish said. 

The health of his patients remains in the forefront. 

“The lack of medical care that people are not receiving is very scary. The stress is causing a lot of psychosocial problems, people not being able to get out to work, and getting a paycheck, being able to feed the kids,” Rish said. 

He said he plans to continue his commitment of serving the Hispanic community. 

“Hopefully we’ll be able to go back to some semblance of normality and not to lose hope, and let them know that we’re here for them,” Rish said. 

He added the cancellations this week were for both people who are undocumented and people here legally. The team has planned to use a mobile unit for patients needing bloodwork and taking it to the neighborhood but patients pushed back against it due to the fear of being targeted. 

Camino in Charlotte also reported cancellations and no-shows at its clinic. Other providers, including Cone Health in Greensboro, are not seeing an impact.

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