Dr. Hector Flores:“ One thing that many folks are not aware is that there was a Guatemalan Tuskegee.”
Dr. Hector Flores is a founding member of the Adventist Health White Memorial( AHWM) Family Medicine Residency Program in Los Angeles. He is also Medical Director of the Family Care Specialists( FCS) Medical Group and FCS IPA which collectively serve approximately 30,000 beneficiaries.
Dr. Hector Flores
Throughout his career Dr. Flores has been an advocate for vulnerable populations and health care reform. He served on the Clinton Health Task Force Hispanic Advisory Committee; he also worked with the Governor Schwarzenegger administration on ABx1-1 that set the stage for implementation of the Affordable Care Act in California. He served as Vice Chair of the LA Healthcare Options Task Force exploring options for healthcare delivery reform in Los Angeles County with a focus on the SPA 4 and SPA 6 corridor.
Always being cognizant of staying as apolitical as we can is important. Because people are not wearing masks, or not getting the vaccine as a political statement, which, sadly, is harmful to them and their family, but also to the communities in which they live. Being aware of the politics and remaining as apolitical as we can, is really important.
What’ s also important in communities of color are the cultural factors, historic oppression, and discrimination, that will impact someone’ s ability to look at the evidence and trust it. Obviously, language issues for a lot of immigrant communities, as well as accessible services for those that are disabled and hearing impaired to make sure that we’ re not missing out on serving them.
One thing that many folks are not aware is that there was a Guatemalan Tuskegee. The same researchers went to Guatemala, and people there, Central Americans, remember that. They may not remember the specifics. But they remember that there’ s a reason they will not trust western medicine or the agents of western medicine as they see them.
With immigrant populations, we’ ve learned about the immigration status issues and public charge. That put a lot of fear into families, especially those that are undocumented immigrants, but those that have mixed immigration status in their homes. So that is also another area we need to address or dispel the myths about that give accurate information, work with the trusted agencies.
Consulates typically provide a whole host of services, but typically provides something called the matricula consular, which is that counselor identification card for undocumented individuals. And you know, a lot of organizations, businesses in particular, recognize there’ s a market, you know, that even though they may be poor, in the aggregate, immigrants have quite a bit of buying power.
Banks will accept a matricula card as a bona fide identification, to open a bank account, or to transmit money. The remittances that often go to their native country to help their family back home, their banks have figured that out. Even car dealers and others that sell goods, recognize it as a bona fide identification.
In the context of health care and the consulates, for the last 10 years, I’ ve been very assertive about playing a role in the well-being of the constituents. The consulates try to partner as much as possible with health care entities, particularly hospitals and emergency rooms, where their constituents who
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 27