High-Country Health Food and Cafe in Mariposa California

CASA
'Click' Here to Visit: 'Yosemite Bug Health Spa', Now Open.
'Click' Here to Visit: 'Yosemite Bug Health Spa', Now Open. "We provide a beautiful and relaxing atmosphere. Come in and let us help You Relax"
'Click' for More Info: 'Chocolate Soup', Fine Home Accessories and Gifts, Located in Mariposa, California
'Click' for More Info: 'Chocolate Soup', Fine Home Accessories and Gifts, Located in Mariposa, California
'Click' Here to Visit Happy Burger Diner in Mariposa... "We have FREE Wi-Fi, we're Eco-Friendly & have the Largest Menu in the Sierra"
'Click' Here to Visit Happy Burger Diner in Mariposa... "We have FREE Wi-Fi, we're Eco-Friendly & have the Largest Menu in the Sierra"
'Click' for More Info: Inter-County Title Company Located in Mariposa, California
'Click' for More Info: Inter-County Title Company Located in Mariposa, California

SST LTRThose who live in Greeley Hill and are disabled may find it near impossible to travel anywhere else in the county. It is not possible for a disabled Greeley Hill resident without transportation to get to the courthouse; not possible to get to a Mariposa lawyer; not possible to get to a voting precinct if it's too far to walk; near impossible to get to a train station or airport; impossible to get home from the Emergency Room or a hospitalization unless they happen to be released on a Tuesday in Sonora before 2pm; not possible to get to Manna House or The Roadhouse; not possible to get to a pharmacy on any day besides Tuesday.

Mariposa is rich in services but these services are inaccessible to those who lack transportation. I understand that there was a bus service that no one used; however if a Dial-A-Ride service could be made accessible, I am certain it would be utilized.

In Greeley Hill I had a disabled neighbor who was having severe medical issues and needed to see doctors on both a regular basis and also in emergency situations. She was not well-off and could not afford taxis, and there was simply no public transportation available to her.  I called Mariposa County to see if they could help her and they said the only "Dial-A-Ride" available in North County was for seniors 60 and over. Nothing whatsoever was available for the disabled who could not drive.  I asked about bus services and I was told there was simply nothing available from North County to Mariposa. There is only one bus a week: Tuesday, going only to Sonora and Groveland. The Greeley Hill Clinic is closed on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and only has limited services available (staffed mainly by a PA, not an MD, and by law there are things the practitioner is not allowed to do.) If a financially strapped and disabled person needs urgent care over the weekend in North County, runs out of medicine, has a crisis -- their only option is an ambulance trip to Sonora Regional or John C. Fremont hospital. Filling Schedule A prescriptions can be a nightmare for a disabled person in Greeley Hill; it may take several trips before the prescription is actually filled. For example, we had to take FOUR trips to Rite-Aid to get 1 prescription of Dilantin filled, because of both doctor and pharmacy error. Incredible, but true, and not that uncommon. In another nightmare we attempted to use Horisons but they made error after error. We put hundreds of miles on my car but we finally had to give up, she simply could not get her recommended medicine due to their many errors.

Last September she suffered a 75-minute seizure because the pharmacies kept refusing to fill her epilepsy medication and she could not make the many trips up to Sonora that were necessary to deal with the bureaucratic snafus. She was hospitalized for several days after this and they were afraid she had brain damage. Horrifying. Wouldn't it have been cheaper in the long run for the county to just provide transportation to get her medicines? 

Lorraine Freeman
Greeley Hill