Impact of Proposition 187 Is Difficult to Gauge

Abstract

FOR Lisa Baumeister, MD, a residency in family practice at San Francisco General Hospital was a natural choice. "The mission statement of the program centered on caring for underserved urban populations," says Baumeister, now in her second year of residency in the hospital's Family Health Center. "I wanted to be in a place that valued immigrant health care and health care for low-income people." In fact, says Baumeister, who is of Mexican descent, advocating for Latinos who often cannot obtain the health care they need was a major motivating force in her decision to enter medicine. "I was raised in Sacramento [Calif], where there is a large Latino community. I developed a deep respect for how the people in the community come together to help themselves and to help build up their community." But since last fall's elections, Baumeister feels some of her goals could be in jeopardy. Voters who