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Farmworker sprays pesticide on field

New US Senate Bill Matches State Bills Seeking to Ban Chlorpyrifos

Mar 28, 2019
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
By Sofia Carrasco Earlier today, Senator Tom Udall introduced legislation that would ban chlorpyrifos across the nation. The bill, entitled Protect Children, Families and Farmworkers from Nerve…
Dairyworker stands with in workplace with cows

Recognizing One of Our Own - Seguridad en las Lecherías: Immigrant Dairy Worker Health and Safety

Mar 19, 2019
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
Don't work for recognition, but do work worthy of recognition. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Don't work for recognition, but do work worthy of recognition.- H. Jackson Brown, Jr. The Health…
amy testifies for the ban of chlorpyrifos

MCN Stands Up for a Ban on Chlorpyrifos in Maryland

Feb 14, 2019
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
By Sofia Carrasco Yesterday, Migrant Clinicians Network’s own Amy K. Liebman testified in front of Maryland’s House Environment and Transportation Committee in support of HB 275 for a Maryland-…
sun setting

Climate Change: New England Journal of Medicine Asks Clinicians to Act

Jan 24, 2019
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Do clinicians have a role in addressing climate change? This week’s New England Journal of Medicine features an explosive perspective piece calling on clinicians to lead the fight. In “Climate…
Kids on playground

Celebrate Children's Health Month by Empowering Farmworker Parents to Protect their Childrens' Health

Oct 15, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Every day, children are accosted with a barrage of parental nags, primarily aimed at keeping children safe and healthy: look both ways; tie your shoe; don’t talk to strangers; eat your…
Pigs behind fence

Post-Florence: Hog Waste Contaminates the Floodwaters, and Disaster Expert Chip Hughes Looks Ahead to Clean-up

Sep 27, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
(Photo by: Sandy Millar) During Hurricane Florence, Joseph “Chip” Hughes, Jr., MPH, was with his family in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 120 miles from the coast. But his university town, one that…
Training parents as community health workers

In the Field: Training Parents as Community Health Workers to Protect Children from Environmental Hazards

Sep 12, 2018
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
The downpours over the weekend ahead of Hurricane Florence did not dampen the spirits of the 14 farmworker parents participating in MCN’s Community Health Worker (CHWs) training in collaboration with…
Jayuya Outreach Team

In the Field: Jayuya Outreach Workers Provide Chemical Safety

Aug 20, 2018
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
With the commitment to promote a safe and healthy work environment, the Castañer Polyclinic in Jayuya, Puerto Rico is raising awareness among many different groups of workers about the proper use of…
Woman farmworker putting on scarf

Medical-Legal Partnership: Helping Pregnant Agricultural Workers Avoid Pesticide Exposure with Aaron Voit, Esq.

Aug 7, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
photo credit: Alan PogueIn the spring, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation announced that 209 million pounds of pesticide active ingredients were used in 2016 across the green fields of…
MCN Outreach Workers

In the Field: Health and Safety for Workers at Castañer General Hospital

Jul 25, 2018
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
This May and June, the Castañer General Hospital team carried out orientations in the community and the surrounding regions to instruct workers on the risks of the chemical exposure that they…
MCN Outreach Workers

In the Field: Outreach Workers Offer Chemical Safety in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico

Jul 17, 2018
By: Migrant Clinicians Network
In May and June, outreach workers from Polyclinic Castañer, a community health center in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, took to the streets with the goal of training local workers on the various chemical…
People getting water from pipe along a dirt road

Blue Tarps, Generators, and the Coqui: Puerto Rico Gives New Meaning to Resiliency

Apr 25, 2018
By: Amy Liebman
Photo: Corporación de Servicios Médicos (CSM) Spanish translation here By Amy K. Liebman, MPA, MA Tired. Sad. Strong. These were just a few words that came to mind as I looked at my friend and…
Child Eating Food

Farmworkers deserve protection from pesticides: Defend important regulations and take part in National Farmworker Awareness Week #NFAW2018

Mar 29, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Farmworkers face substantial health risks at their jobs, including exposure to pesticides. At Migrant Clinicians Network, we have spent decades fighting for a stronger Worker Protection Standard, and…
Hurricane wildfire person praying

Now What? Clinical Strategies for Vulnerable Workers, Months After Disaster

Feb 1, 2018
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
The hurricanes that lashed large swaths of the South and the Caribbean, the fires that blackened neighborhoods, farms, and wildlands across the West -- while the severe events themselves have ended…
Toña Sanchez visits with migrant kids

When the Fires Broke Out, CHWs in Oregon Took a Different Approach

Dec 7, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Lead Community Health Worker Toña Sanchez visits with migrant kids. Photo: The Next Door, Inc.When wildfires hit Oregon earlier this year, farmworkers suffered. Despite official recommendations to…

Leslie Nickels: “One of our finest warriors," A Memorial from The Pump Handle

Dec 4, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
The occupational health and safety community is mourning the death of Leslie Nickels, MEd, PhD, who passed away earlier this week from breast cancer. Leslie embodied the heart and spirit of…
child reading a book with her dad

Migrant Clinicians Network Receives Aetna Grant for Health Education for Farmworker Parents

Oct 31, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Migrant Clinicians Network has been selected as a grantee in the Aetna Foundation’s Cultivating Healthy Communities program and was awarded a $100,000 community grant to implement a new program…
man spraying pesticides on plants

From the Fields to the Exam Room: MCN Trains Thousands on Pesticide Poisoning Response

Sep 21, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Pop quiz: Before Migrant Clinicians Network trainings, what percentage of surveyed primary care clinicians knew if reporting pesticide exposures in their state was required? Read on to find the…
COSH Network staff survey damage to homes after hurricane Harvey

After the Storm: National COSH's Perspective from their Train-the-Trainer Sessions in Houston

Sep 19, 2017
By: Jessica E. Martinez
I’m writing you from Houston, on the third and final day of an intensive bilingual “train-the-trainers” session for workers who want to see their city rebuilt safely and securely. What I’ve…
workers raising hands

Picking Fruit in 106 Degrees in Oregon: How Do Health Centers Step in to Prevent Yet Another Heat-Related Death?

Aug 10, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
It’s August -- and it’s hot. A stubborn heatwave has gripped the Pacific Northwest, and the National Weather Service has two weather alerts for the Columbia Gorge region, a scenic rural strip along…
Workers standing on dusty soil

High Index of Suspicion: Valley Fever in California’s Central Valley

Aug 3, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Clinica Sierra Vista’s patient population in their Kern County, California clinics reflects this rural slice of the Central Valley, the southernmost stretch of the famously fertile and productive…
Border wall in Brownsville, Texas

Borderlands Road Trip: Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Origin in Texas?

Jul 19, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Border wall in Brownsville, Texas. Photograph by Tom Laffay for La Isla Network.Along the Texas-Mexico border, the scorching summer sun is merciless. In McAllen, Texas, the average high for the…
Tomatoes

Summer = Tomatoes! How to Keep Tomato Workers Safe and Healthy

Jul 11, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
For many of us, the quintessential taste of the summer season is a ripe tomato. The fruits of this summer treat are now lining the produce aisles at grocery stores around the country. But as many…
physician at computer

Tech and Ag: Using EHRs to Better Identify and Train Agricultural Workers on Occupational Exposures

Jun 14, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Fernando* had worked in agriculture on and off for six years. He drove out to the local apple orchards for four months out of the year, pruning, fertilizing, applying pesticides, and harvesting.…
Dr.-Jose-Rodriguez-and-Sr.-Domingo-Monroig-receiving-EPA-Environmental-Champion-Award

Hospital General Castañer Wins EPA Award

May 23, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Last week, Jose Rodriguez, MD, Medical Director at Hospital General Castañer, attended an awards ceremony in New York City to receive the 2017 United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)…
man standing in field of smoke

Pesticide Poisoning of Farmworkers in Bakersfield

May 10, 2017
By: Claire Hutkins Seda
Last week, more than 50 agricultural workers were sickened when exposed to pesticides while working in a cabbage field near Bakersfield, California. "We started getting an odor, pesticide odor,…