Health care providers from around the world are gathering in Rochester over the next several days to learn how to better care for refugees.
The city is hosting the fourth annual North American Refugee Health Conference at the Radisson Riverside Hotel.
Conference organizer Jim Sutton is a physician assistant at Rochester General Health System. He says this community has a global reputation when it comes to refugee health care.
For one thing, every refugee who enters Rochester is paired with a primary care physician. “Which is so important, because in other cities where they don't have this type of system, often they'll be here for years without getting connected to a provider which can lead them to go to an emergency room and after-hour visits and end up in a hospital for conditions that could routinely just be taken care of in a practice if they got connected with someone."
Rochester-bound refugees are also connected to peer counselors-previously settled refugees who have experience in navigating the health system. Rochester welcomes between 700 and 800 refugees annually.
Some 500 attendees are expected at this week's conference from as far away as Kenya, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
