Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Sun editorial:

Monitoring J-1 doctors

State health inspectors find violations in program geared to help underserved communities

Prodded by investigative stories by reporter Marshall Allen in the Las Vegas Sun, the state Health Division late last year made unannounced visits to medical clinics that employ foreign doctors. The state authorities wanted to determine whether the doctors were fulfilling their obligation as participants in a program that would grant them the legal residency needed to begin the immigration process in exchange for providing care to underserved communities for at least three years.

The stories, dating back to September 2007, focused on the fact that employers were exploiting the foreign doctors for profit under the J-1 program while it suffered from lax federal and state enforcement.

As Allen reported Sunday, the Health Division in November and December visited 15 sites that employ 22 doctors in the program and found four physicians who were not working the required time in the underserved clinics. More than half of the doctors worked in clinics where there was no notice that patients would be treated regardless of their ability to pay.

It was found that five doctors were saddled with contracts that required them to pay their employers up to $250,000 if they broke their agreements, arrangements the state discourages because they can be used to keep physicians in oppressive situations. Inspectors also found eight doctors with noncompete agreements that would prevent them from continuing to work in the underserved area after leaving their current employers, which runs counter to the goals of the J-1 program.

The Health Division set off on the right track when it sent letters this month to the physicians and their employers, informing them of the violations and telling them how to comply. While it is encouraging that the state is now checking up on the doctors enrolled in the program, it is troubling that so many violations were found.

One of the most honorable aspects of the medical profession is embodied by physicians who have devoted their lives to providing health care to those communities most in need. The J-1 program will do so only if it works as intended, something that requires honest participants and employers.

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