CASTILLO FUNNELS COVID-19 VACCINES TO HOME HEALTH PROVIDER COMPANIES, LIKE HIS OWN KINDRED AT HOME

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

State, university, and county officials say that nearly 7,000 more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are on the way to the Rio Grande Valley. The majority – 3,900 – are headed to Cameron County, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. 

They also announced that another 2,575 are headed to Hidalgo County.

And the Texas Department of State Health Services and the the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – which has also received a shipment of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at the UT Health RGV/Knapp Family Health Center in Mercedes and the UTRGV Clinical Education building in Harlingen – say they have began identifying and vaccinating qualified individuals.

According to a release from the university, the vaccines will be administered to the three groups of individuals prioritized by state health officials to receive the vaccine. 
These groups include:

* Front-line employees who have heightened exposure to the virus or must remain healthy to support others as cases surge;

*  Individuals under 65 

* Individuals under 65 at risk for severe illness from COVID-19 because of certain comorbidities.

https://www.valleymorningstar.com/2020/12/29/covid-19-vaccinations-mercedes-brownsville-specific-groups/

Notice there is no mention of home health workers of private companies in the prioritizing by state and university officials?

  

So why has Cameron County Health Director Dr. James W. Castillo II, the Cameron County health authority, announce that Cameron County plans to focus on vaccinating home health workers?

https://www.krgv.com/news/nearly-7-000-more-doses-of-covid-19-vaccine-on-the-way-to-the-valley/

https://www.valleymorningstar.com/2020/12/29/covid-19-vaccinations-mercedes-brownsville-specific-groups/

You know, these are the people – both young and middle age – that are employed by private home health givers to visit patients at home. So what happened to the priorities emphasized by the state and UTRGV health authorities? Nowhere in their announcements did they single out home health workers?

Could it be that Cameron County's vaccines will be funneled to home health workers – and some elderly skipped over – because Castillo just happens to be listed on its website as the senior medical director for Kindred at Home LLC, a company in Harlingen which provides home health, palliative, hospice, and community care service providers?

Since December 23, the county health department has confirmed 785 positive COVID-19 cases.

Castillo, in statements to the media, said he plans to focus on vaccinating home health workers.

An estimated 130 home health companies in Cameron County – including Kindred at Home – employ about 14,000 people.

"So, definitely, we want to focus in on that group because it's a lot broader, it's not as centralized," Castillo said.

Castillo conveniently pointed out that home health workers provide assistance to people with chronic medical problems, people with disabilities and people who are homebound. Vaccinating home health workers will help protect their clients from the virus, he added.

In some circles that is called self-dealing. Is this any way to deal with a pandemic?