It s the only thing we can do. Today, there are five massive cabinets taking up so much of the tiny office s space that the nurses station is now more like a nurses closet. Yes, you could say we need space. The Mecca clinic served almost 10,000 patients last year. Half of them are children.
Many adults are farmworkers.
Most have no insurance. The clinic is located in a community where new immigrants from Mexico boost the population weekly. In fact, the Hispanic population is younger compared to non-Hispanic whites and other racial groups, new census figures showed. In 2000, 18.6 percent of the valley s Hispanic population was under 18, while just 8.4 percent of the valley s non-Hispanic population was under 18. The effects of a growing youth population have been felt by doctors across the valley.