Rabhya Mehrotra photo
Census community workers at Yale New Haven Wednesday.
Feven Getaneh, a resident at Yale New Haven Hospital, had lost her paper copy of the U.S. census form. She wasn’t sure how and when she’d complete it.
Wednesday a crew came to her workplace, gave her a copy, and signed her up.
“It’s been on my mind, since I know how important the census is,” she said. “But I’ve just been so busy.”
Like other medical professionals, Getaneh said, she understands the crucial relationship between the results of the census and funding for local hospitals.
That’s why the crew came to the hospital’s York Street entrance for an event Wednesday morning, seeking to get more of Getaneh’s coworkers signed up.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, coming Yale New Haven Hospital President Dr. Keith Churchwell, and Census Bureau Coordinator Eva Bunnell all gathered outside the main entrance and addressed a small crowd as healthcare workers passed by. All three stressed the importance of the census, especially as it relates to public health.
“Part of Connecticut’s successful response to recent events, including Covid, has been due to adequate funding,” said Bunnell. Beyond Covid, the federal government uses census data in funding Medicare, Medicaid, and children’s health insurance in Connecticut. Thanks to the 2010 census, DeLauro said, “Connecticut received over $11 billion for federal programs.”
The census also helps public health centers improve their services. “Public health departments use census statistics to plan out for infection rates, among other things,” Rep. DeLauro noted.
DeLauro speaking at the hospital.
Many undercounted people are of color, exacerbating inequalities in funding and government programs, DeLauro added. She cited a Census Bureau study from 2010, which found that over “1.5 million people of color were not included in the census.”
With less than three weeks left before this year’s census deadline, New Haven has a long way to go. “The state of Connecticut has an average response rate of 92 percent, but for the city of New Haven, that rate is only 52.8 percent,” Rep. DeLauro warned.
Terrell Fairweather works for the Laz Valet Parking, right at the hospital entrance. His manager told him about this event, he said, and it was the first time he had even heard about the census this year. Although he hadn’t completed the census yet, “events like this could change my mind,” he said.
“Many employees at the hospital understand why they should take the census, but they just can’t find the time,” Churchwell said. “We hope that by creating these events, they have an opportunity to get counted.”
The Census Bureau brought the MQA, or Mobile Questionnaire Assistance set-up, to help do exactly that. It has been traveling around the state, offering free goodies and a few census community workers who help fill out census questionnaires. Wednesday it remained at the hospital until 2 p.m. Many healthcare workers who didn’t attend the press conference were enticed to stop for a few moments, if not for a free fan or squishy ball.
Getaneh certainly was grateful for the MQA: in less than three minutes, she finished a task she had been meaning to do for months. “I didn’t even know about this event, but its placement by the entrance was perfect,” she said. “I’m so glad I was able to be counted.”