Cynthia Acevedo, MAMS Class of 2022, revives vital lab service in downtown Yakima, expanding access to care for Yakima’s medically underserved populations.
“When I was younger, my parents would take my siblings and I to pick the fields in the valley,” says Cynthia Acevedo, reflecting on her journey to PNWU’s Master of Arts in Medical Sciences program. “Their goal was to teach us responsibility and hard work, as well as instill and reinforce the value of an education.”
In those fertile fields, a young Acevedo couldn’t help but to eavesdrop on the conversations of the farmworkers around her – stories of aches, pains, and perseverance; about working through it all to put food on the table. Young and impressionable, she listened intently as they shared their remedies with one another – trying different teas, visiting traditional healers, and harnessing the power of prayer.
“At that point, I did not understand why they were not able to seek medical care,” Acevedo explained. “As I got older, I came to learn that medical care is a privilege for some and not an option for others.”
In December 2019, thanks in part to those experiences, Acevedo signed on to volunteer at the largest free medical clinic for the uninsured in the state of Washington: the Yakima Union Gospel Mission (YUGM) Medical Care Center.
Growing up in Yakima, Acevedo admits to having once shared a common community misconception about YUGM’s free clinic: that it was only a resource for the local homeless population. It wasn’t until some of her own family members sought treatment there that she began learning more, and ultimately signed on to help. She was instantly drawn to the patients she met there – farmworkers that reminded her so much of the people she and her siblings met in Yakima’s fertile fields over a decade earlier.
“YUGM’s patients are people who have a lack of access to medical care due to social determinants of health,” Acevedo explained. As she came to learn more about those social determinants, she witnessed repeatedly how, by eliminating them, people were more inclined to get involved and be proactive in their own medical care. Soon, she locked eyes with a significant barrier that she felt capable of clearing.
After their visit, YUGM patients are sent for lab work to be completed prior to a follow-up appointment. “Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital used to perform outpatient draws onsite for YUGM patients,” Acevedo explained, “but when the pandemic began, patients were sent to the hospital’s outpatient clinic, Cornerstone.”
More than five miles from YUGM’s clinic, the lab’s location presented access challenges for many of YUGM’s patients.
“Many patients in this population do not have reliable transportation or the ability to take more time to go to another location for this service, so they may choose not to have their labs monitored,” explained Jessie Fisk, MT ASCP, Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital’s director of lab service. “It is imperative to their continued health and next appointment to have lab results ready for their provider to continue their health journey.”
Furthermore, Cornerstone’s lab became so busy with the influx of the patients who could show up that they quickly began requiring appointments, exacerbating the access challenges already facing the underserved patients.
85% of YUGM Medical Care Center’s patients are agricultural workers, and their livelihoods require long hours of manual labor in the Yakima Valley’s fertile fields. Home to over 40 commercial crops, the region grows the largest variety of fresh produce in the Pacific Northwest. As a result, the community is filled with an abundance of agricultural workers who need to be healthy to make ends meet. With little access to spare time or transportation, the hour-plus walk from YUGM to Cornerstone was often implausible.
A licensed phlebotomist, Acevedo connected with Fisk to offer her expertise in reviving the crucial community lab formerly located at YUGM’s downtown Yakima facilities.
“I, as a UGM volunteer and hospital employee, came up with the idea that opening the lab at YUGM could help make it easier for patients to go to their appointments at YUGM and also get their labs done at YUGM,” Acevedo explained. “At the same time, Cornerstone would have some relief.”
“Cynthia had all the skills and certifications we needed,” explained Fisk. “Perhaps more importantly, in the face of finding new ways to deliver healthcare, she had the vision and heart to find a way for some of our most vulnerable patients. Cynthia brought her time, skill and compassion to make this happen.”
On Friday, April 1, YUGM welcomed the first patient back to their restored lab for testing.
Alongside YUGM Clinic Director Hannah Wilson, PA-C, and Medical Assistant Sayda Salazar, MA-C, Acevedo visits YUGM every Friday afternoon to draw, collect, prepare, and transport blood to the hospital for processing. As demand continues to increase, organizers will continue exploring additional lab draw days.
Left to right: Cynthia Acevedo, PNWU MAMS Class of ’22; Hannah Wilson, PA-C; Sayda Salazar, MA-C
“It has been a journey to get here,” said Acevedo, “but with collaboration and support we are officially providing this service to UGM patients.”
“I am very thankful and honored to be a part of this team,” she added. “The commitment demonstrated by the providers towards their patients is astonishing. They have gone above and beyond to make this possible for our community. This could not have been possible without their support.”