WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Tony Valdez says the West Valley City community has come to know and love his mother Maria over the 30 years their family has lived there.
“My mom has always been very caring, very nurturing, very welcoming,” said Valdez. “Throughout the years, all my friends, families, anybody that would come in the home immediately, my mom would have such an enormous heart and hospitality, welcome them, serving them a plate of food, cooking for them.”
Recently, she had a bad seizure due to her epilepsy and fell and cracked her head open.
“The doctors did urge that she needs to see a specialist, a neurologist,” Valdez said. “Going to a simple clinic, they don't have specialized doctors enough for the condition.”
Maria, going through the process of becoming a legal U.S. citizen for years, does not have health insurance.
“It's just a battle for my mom not sleeping and dealing with the side effects and then the stresses of the whole economical issue and the whole legalization process is just, I can't imagine what goes through her head,” said Valdez.
The so-called “Utah Model of Care” Governor Spencer Cox and healthcare officials announced Tuesday aims to make things more affordable by expanding office hours and telehealth services, using more non-clinical staff, and emphasizing preventative care. However, they expect this plan to go into effect over more than a decade. Until then, people like Maria’s family are doing whatever they can to find help now.
“My best friend who made the GoFundMe page, he just loves my mom,” said Valdez. “And a lot of people started to reach out to me that day, and they just, they want to help her. They want to help her get the treatment that she needs.”
Valdez said he wishes they didn’t have to turn to the community for help, but it’s the only option for his mother to get better.
“We're just kind of dealing with this unfortunate event and being in that process and not having the insurance,” he said. “It's a scary process we’re in.”
