St. John’s Well Child & Family Center and The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW partnered Saturday for a “Back to School the Healthy Way—South LA Summer Health Fair” held at the St. John’s clinic on Hoover and Slauson in South LA.
The line stretched down the street for free vaccinations for the Tdap (Tetanus, Diptheria and Pertussis, also known as whooping cough) vaccines and other health screenings. Under California law, all students entering 7th through 12th grades in the 2011-2012 school year must show proof of Tdap vaccinations before they can attend school.
Dozens of volunteers from St. John’s and SEIU donated their time to provide health screenings and information. There were also games and prizes for the kids who attended. 
St. John’s and SEIU are pairing up to increase the level of health care access in South LA – an area of Los Angeles sorely underserved by the medical establishment. They also want to recruit local residents to get involved in efforts to organize for better access to healthcare.
According to Stephanie Allen, an SEIU member who was staffing The Right to Health Committee table, one in three residents in South Los Angeles do not have health insurance, and the life expectancy for South LA residents is 68, compared to 78 years for the rest of California and the nation.
Children are especially suffering from the lack of medical care. The Community Health Councils reports that in South LA there are only 11 pediatricians per 100,000 children, compared to 193 in the wealthier neighborhood of West Los Angeles.
This lack of pediatric care contributes to asthma, juvenile diabetes and obesity, as well as increasing health problems as children grow into adults.
“There was a mother of three just at the table,” said Allen, “who at the age of 22 was diagnosed with hyper-tension. But many people don’t even know they have these health problems because they don’t have regular medical care.” 
While health fairs can help give residents some needed health screenings and care, SEIU and St. John’s organizers say perhaps a more important goal is to organize South LA residents so they will have a voice in the debate over health care access.
A petition at the Right to Health Committee table was directed toward members of the congressional “super committee,” appointed to come up with a plan to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal spending over the next 10 years. The petition asks the committee not to make cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.
The Right to Health Committee holds meetings the fourth Wednesday of each month at St. John’s Well Child & Family Center, 5801 S. Hoover Street, Los Angeles 90037, from 6-8 pm. The next meeting will be held August 24, 2011.
