Proteus currently serves approximately 2,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families each year by responding to their employment, education and health care needs. Proteus receives funding from federal, state and local sources as well as private donors. The Agrisafe Network of clinics, which provides occupational health services for Iowa's farm population, also assists Proteus to augment the services provided to migrant and seasonal farmworkers. The Proteus program has grown considerably since it was established. Jeanne Duquette, clinical director of migrant health at Proteus, explained that there are still many workers and families with health needs that go untreated.
Continuity of care can prove challenging because migrant farm workers are always moving.
These clinic sites are located in areas of high migrant and seasonal farmworker concentration. However, Duquette explained, the best way to reach these workers is to go out to the areas where they work. Staff members from each of the clinics are able to travel to and provide many services at the work sites of migrant farm workers. Duquette reports that migrant and seasonal workers usually respond positively to these mobile clinic appearances at work sites, and many workers use services provided by the Proteus program. Environmental stressors work together to put migrant worker populations at increased risk for serious health problems.