Field work | Barbara Ginley's goal: to give medical care to Maine's migrant and seasonal farm workers
This month, blueberry rakers Down East will have a better handle on their job. More to the point, they'll have a better handle for their job, and for that they can thank Barbara Ginley.
That's because Ginley helped introduce a new dual-handle blueberry rake that gives workers a more ergonomic way to collect berries from the low bushes of Down East blueberry barrens. The handle design, which replaces a single bar in the center of the rake with two grips on either end, was the result of a four-year study spearheaded by Ginley, executive director of the Maine Migrant Health Program. "The premise was to reduce work-related illness and injury," she says. "[Rakers] found the handles decreased pain, but didn't decrease production."
Prevention is chief among the goals of the MMHP, a private nonprofit group that since 1991 has brought medical services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Maine. But more often than preventing injuries or illness, the MMHP is busy treating maladies. The 35-person organization is based in the Washington County town of Columbia, but travels the state tending to a range of workers — blueberry rakers Down East, broccoli harvesters in Aroostook County or apple pickers in central Maine. "Outreach is very important," says Ginley.
To that end, three mobile health units — think Winnebagos outfitted with medical gear — roam the state during harvest seasons, stopping every week or so at sites that employ migrant and seasonal workers to treat issues like sore backs from blueberry raking or respiratory infections caused by pesticides. The organization's 10-to-12-person medical staff — which includes a roster of nurse practitioners, physician assistants and physicians-in-training — also treats chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease.
By helping workers stay in the fields, MMHP plays a vital role in the state's agriculture industry. Ginley estimates Maine sees between 12,000 and 15,000 migrant and seasonal farm workers in a given year, and that her organization treats a "couple thousand" of those workers. While the bulk of workers MMHP treats are Hispanic, Micmacs from Canada and Jamaican and Haitian workers are also heavily represented in Maine's fields during harvest season. And language barriers or cultural differences — as well as a complicated American health care system — often keep such workers from seeking proper medical attention, says Ginley. "The overall health status is more on par with someone from an undeveloped country," she says.
Ginley, 40, has been executive director of MMHP for six years. She studied public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and worked heavily with local farmers in the agriculturally heavy central part of the state. While she isn't a clinician and doesn't directly administer care to the patients, Ginley stays close to the action. "I never wanted to be too many steps away from the actual work," she says. "I spend most of my time in the field."
But Ginley, who grew up in Massachusetts and New Jersey and currently lives in Portland, has to contend with a relatively small annual budget of less than $620,000. As much as 80% of that money comes from federal sources, including the Department of Health and Human Services, while the state and private foundations fill in the balance. "I don't want to say we're bare bones, but there's not a lot of extras," says Ginley. "We're just trying to get services out to the field."
Still, the job appeals to Ginley's belief in social justice, and that health care is a basic human right. And despite acknowledging the drawbacks of working in an industry plagued by red tape and funding difficulties, Ginley says the nonprofit organization is a good fit. "It feeds my heart, soul and mind, all at the same time," she says. "It's so challenging on so many levels."
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