DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GRANTS $3.4 MILLION TO NCLR’S CARRERAS EN SALUD PROGRAM
The Latino Journal E-News, Vol. 3, Issue 6
Chicago, IL—NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, applauds the U.S. Department of Labor for investing in health services training in high-need Chicago communities. The $3.4 million award will be used to fund the Carreras en Salud program, providing low-income, low-skilled Latinos with a structured but flexible, multi-entry career pathway to skilled nursing and health occupations.
“Latinos have been overrepresented in high-unemployment occupations in this and other industries. These types of programs provide entry-level workers with high-demand skills. Latinos represent a growing and needed pool of future health care workers in this rapidly expanding industry, even while the labor force in many other industries is shrinking,” said NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía. “NCLR is thankful to Secretary Solis and the Department of Labor for supporting the Carreras en Salud program, enabling Latinos to find quality jobs that help lift their families out of poverty.”
Carreras en Salud offers integrated services to overcome barriers to employment and career advancement such as job training, career counseling, and assistance in job placement. The program represents a workforce partnership between NCLR and its Chicago-based Affiliates, Instituto del Progreso Latino, Association House of Chicago (AHC), and Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center (HPVEC). Services will be easily accessible, as all three partners are located in Latino communities—HPVEC and AHC in the Humboldt Park/West Town area, and Instituto del Progreso Latino in the Pilsen neighborhood (lower west side).
The grant is an important step on the path to economic recovery in communities that have been hit hardest by the economic recession. Rising unemployment continues to disproportionately affect minority communities. The unemployment rate in December was 16.2% for Blacks and 12.9% for Latinos, compared to 10% nationwide.
Preparing workers for jobs that are readily accessible is essential to narrowing the employment gap between minority and nonminority workers. These important investments must be accompanied by a bold strategy to create jobs in communities of color. Doing so will mean the difference between a strong economic recovery and a jobless tomorrow.
For more information, visit www.nclr.org.
Showing posts with label Latino Health Careers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Latino Health Careers. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Latino takes health care to new levels
South Sacramento Kaiser official looks back on varied career,
By Anna Tong, The Sacramento Bee, Feb. 1, 2010
Max Villalobos has never taken care of a patient, yet a big part of Kaiser Permanente's South Sacramento Medical Center bears his mark.
Bespectacled and balding, he's the hospital's Mr. Fix-it in a suit. He walks the halls holding doors for patients and asking staff about their families. He'll even stop to pick up a stray bit of trash from the floor.
Villalobos has been the highest-ranking non-physician at Kaiser's south Sacramento hospital for just four years and already has won acclaim for the hospital's advances.
And, as health care executives go, he's probably traveled further than most to get to this point in his career.
Villalobos is one of 11 children in an immigrant family, and he lived through an impoverished childhood in Chihuahua, Mexico, and then in Los Angeles. His father was a day laborer and, later, a butcher.
It took Villalobos 13 years – studying part time and working full time – to finish his education. He's the only one of his siblings to finish college; he also earned a master's degree in health care administration from the University of Southern California.
People who have watched his rise say Villalobos understands his hospital's diverse patient population. The Kaiser center is in an area with one of the region's richest mixes of ethnic cultures and languages.
Under his leadership, Kaiser South Sacramento became the first Kaiser hospital to fully implement a new electronic medical records system and the first to open a Level II trauma center. And Villalobos is overseeing a $300 million expansion.
But what really sets Villalobos apart, observers said, is his commitment to improving the patient experience.
"When we talk about improving patient care, it's not just the medical care," Villalobos said. "Can they find where to park? Are they able to figure out where to go? I try to focus on the little things as well as the big things."
Several years ago, he began a campaign to make all of Kaiser South Sacramento's signs bilingual.
"Imagine you're a Latino patient who's coming into the hospital and not doing well, and you need to find where you're going," he said.
In the Sacramento region, nearly 60 percent of the insured Latino population are Kaiser Permanente members.
Bilingual signs were a simple idea but a huge undertaking. It took three years to replace thousands of signs at the 1 million-square-foot hospital.
Villalobos is no stranger to hard work.
His younger sister, Patricia Appleby, says Villalobos was always serious about work and school. She recalled that his high school job was at a McDonald's, where in 1976 he received $2.15 per hour. As a teenager, he was promoted to supervisor, and helped Patricia get a job.
"When he got me the job at McDonald's, he would say, 'Don't stand around, you need to sweep or mop if you have free time,' " she said.
In 1996, Kaiser Permanente recruited him to be director of sourcing and logistics, and he began working his way up.
Even as a senior vice president, no task seems beneath Villalobos. He's been known to personally mediate confrontations between patients and staff.
If he has a spare minute, he doesn't sit in his office. Instead, he is out doing "rounds," which for this non-doctor means walking around the hospital, checking on staff and patients.
When he was in charge of implementing the hospital's electronic health records pilot program, he spent countless hours on such rounds.
"I wore out three pairs of shoes walking around then," he said.
The electronic medical records program is now so successful that every Kaiser hospital is using it or converting to it. In the process, Kaiser has become the second-largest health care system to use electronic medical records, after the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals.
It hasn't been easy, though. Some staffers said they just couldn't ever get used to computers. Some cried, and a few even quit over the conversion.
One of those who found it difficult to convert was Nazanin Hassan, a nurse who said Villalobos visited her every day during the process.
"Now I don't think I could go without the electronic system," she said, recalling that because she struggled to learn English as adult, she feared having to learn a new computer language. "But back then, I thought I couldn't do it. Max made me feel like I could."
Because English was his second language, Villalobos says, he understood Hassan's fear.
"I'm sensitive to that," he said. "When I moved to America at age 12 I didn't speak of word of English, and it was just very challenging."
By Anna Tong, The Sacramento Bee, Feb. 1, 2010
Max Villalobos has never taken care of a patient, yet a big part of Kaiser Permanente's South Sacramento Medical Center bears his mark.
Bespectacled and balding, he's the hospital's Mr. Fix-it in a suit. He walks the halls holding doors for patients and asking staff about their families. He'll even stop to pick up a stray bit of trash from the floor.
Villalobos has been the highest-ranking non-physician at Kaiser's south Sacramento hospital for just four years and already has won acclaim for the hospital's advances.
And, as health care executives go, he's probably traveled further than most to get to this point in his career.
Villalobos is one of 11 children in an immigrant family, and he lived through an impoverished childhood in Chihuahua, Mexico, and then in Los Angeles. His father was a day laborer and, later, a butcher.
It took Villalobos 13 years – studying part time and working full time – to finish his education. He's the only one of his siblings to finish college; he also earned a master's degree in health care administration from the University of Southern California.
People who have watched his rise say Villalobos understands his hospital's diverse patient population. The Kaiser center is in an area with one of the region's richest mixes of ethnic cultures and languages.
Under his leadership, Kaiser South Sacramento became the first Kaiser hospital to fully implement a new electronic medical records system and the first to open a Level II trauma center. And Villalobos is overseeing a $300 million expansion.
But what really sets Villalobos apart, observers said, is his commitment to improving the patient experience.
"When we talk about improving patient care, it's not just the medical care," Villalobos said. "Can they find where to park? Are they able to figure out where to go? I try to focus on the little things as well as the big things."
Several years ago, he began a campaign to make all of Kaiser South Sacramento's signs bilingual.
"Imagine you're a Latino patient who's coming into the hospital and not doing well, and you need to find where you're going," he said.
In the Sacramento region, nearly 60 percent of the insured Latino population are Kaiser Permanente members.
Bilingual signs were a simple idea but a huge undertaking. It took three years to replace thousands of signs at the 1 million-square-foot hospital.
Villalobos is no stranger to hard work.
His younger sister, Patricia Appleby, says Villalobos was always serious about work and school. She recalled that his high school job was at a McDonald's, where in 1976 he received $2.15 per hour. As a teenager, he was promoted to supervisor, and helped Patricia get a job.
"When he got me the job at McDonald's, he would say, 'Don't stand around, you need to sweep or mop if you have free time,' " she said.
In 1996, Kaiser Permanente recruited him to be director of sourcing and logistics, and he began working his way up.
Even as a senior vice president, no task seems beneath Villalobos. He's been known to personally mediate confrontations between patients and staff.
If he has a spare minute, he doesn't sit in his office. Instead, he is out doing "rounds," which for this non-doctor means walking around the hospital, checking on staff and patients.
When he was in charge of implementing the hospital's electronic health records pilot program, he spent countless hours on such rounds.
"I wore out three pairs of shoes walking around then," he said.
The electronic medical records program is now so successful that every Kaiser hospital is using it or converting to it. In the process, Kaiser has become the second-largest health care system to use electronic medical records, after the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals.
It hasn't been easy, though. Some staffers said they just couldn't ever get used to computers. Some cried, and a few even quit over the conversion.
One of those who found it difficult to convert was Nazanin Hassan, a nurse who said Villalobos visited her every day during the process.
"Now I don't think I could go without the electronic system," she said, recalling that because she struggled to learn English as adult, she feared having to learn a new computer language. "But back then, I thought I couldn't do it. Max made me feel like I could."
Because English was his second language, Villalobos says, he understood Hassan's fear.
"I'm sensitive to that," he said. "When I moved to America at age 12 I didn't speak of word of English, and it was just very challenging."
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Too few Hispanic doctors
Official: Too few minority doctors
Philly.com, Dec. 4, 2009
ATLANTA - New U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin called yesterday for stepped-up efforts in increasing the number of minority physicians.
In one of her first speeches to a large crowd since being sworn in Nov. 3, Benjamin noted that the proportion of U.S. physicians who are minorities was only 6 percent - the same as a century ago. "There's something wrong with that," Benjamin said, addressing a conference on health disparities.
The numbers come from a 2004 estimate of the percentage of U.S. physicians who are black or Hispanic. Blacks and Hispanics account for roughly 28 percent of the U.S. population, according to 2008 Census figures.
Benjamin has not said what her priorities will be during her four-year term. – AP
Philly.com, Dec. 4, 2009
ATLANTA - New U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin called yesterday for stepped-up efforts in increasing the number of minority physicians.
In one of her first speeches to a large crowd since being sworn in Nov. 3, Benjamin noted that the proportion of U.S. physicians who are minorities was only 6 percent - the same as a century ago. "There's something wrong with that," Benjamin said, addressing a conference on health disparities.
The numbers come from a 2004 estimate of the percentage of U.S. physicians who are black or Hispanic. Blacks and Hispanics account for roughly 28 percent of the U.S. population, according to 2008 Census figures.
Benjamin has not said what her priorities will be during her four-year term. – AP
Pioneering Hispanic Nurse to Head UTEP School of Nursing
Pioneering Hispanic Nurse to Head UTEP School of Nursing
The Latino Journal E-News, Vol. 2, Issue 7
Elias Provencio-Vasquez, Ph.D., the first Hispanic male to earn a doctoral degree in nursing in the country, has achieved another first.
After a national search, The University of Texas at El Paso appointed Provencio-Vasquez as the dean of the School of Nursing. Nationally, Provencio-Vasquez is the first Hispanic male to assume such a position.
UTEP President Diana Natalicio and Provost Richard Jarvis announced the appointment on Dec. 7, 2009.
Provencio-Vasquez, a native of El Paso, earned his doctorate in nursing from the University of Arizona in 1992.
“We are very pleased and proud to welcome Dr. Elias Provencio-Vasquez to UTEP,” Natalicio said. “He has set an example that our Miner nurses can look up to, and we look forward to working with him to help the University build an even stronger nursing program as we move towards Tier One status.”
Provencio-Vasquez, who is the associate dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla., will begin his duties at UTEP in February.
“Together, we will build on the great success of the School of Nursing and take the school to new heights,” Provencio-Vasquez said.
He is looking forward to working closely with the nursing faculty, staff, students and alumni.
“Joining The University of Texas at El Paso leadership team is like coming home,” he said.
For the last 30 years, Provencio-Vasquez has been a clinician, educator, researcher and administrator. He is well-known nationally and internationally for his work with at-risk women and their families. His background and expertise is primary care and developmental assessments of HIV and drug-exposed infants, children and adolescents. He was the former director for the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Texas at Houston and the University of Maryland.
Provencio-Vasquez is past president of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, where he raised awareness, value and appropriate compensation for nurse practitioners during his term.
He is a former member of the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, and a current member of the National Advisory Committee of the New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Programs, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. In addition, he holds “fellowship” status in several prestigious national organizations: United States Public Health Service Primary Care Policy Program; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Developing Leadership and Reducing Substance Abuse; American Association of Colleges of Nursing Leadership for Academic Nursing Programs; American Academy of Nurse Practitioners; American Academy of Nursing and Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellows Program.
The Latino Journal E-News, Vol. 2, Issue 7
Elias Provencio-Vasquez, Ph.D., the first Hispanic male to earn a doctoral degree in nursing in the country, has achieved another first.
After a national search, The University of Texas at El Paso appointed Provencio-Vasquez as the dean of the School of Nursing. Nationally, Provencio-Vasquez is the first Hispanic male to assume such a position.
UTEP President Diana Natalicio and Provost Richard Jarvis announced the appointment on Dec. 7, 2009.
Provencio-Vasquez, a native of El Paso, earned his doctorate in nursing from the University of Arizona in 1992.
“We are very pleased and proud to welcome Dr. Elias Provencio-Vasquez to UTEP,” Natalicio said. “He has set an example that our Miner nurses can look up to, and we look forward to working with him to help the University build an even stronger nursing program as we move towards Tier One status.”
Provencio-Vasquez, who is the associate dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla., will begin his duties at UTEP in February.
“Together, we will build on the great success of the School of Nursing and take the school to new heights,” Provencio-Vasquez said.
He is looking forward to working closely with the nursing faculty, staff, students and alumni.
“Joining The University of Texas at El Paso leadership team is like coming home,” he said.
For the last 30 years, Provencio-Vasquez has been a clinician, educator, researcher and administrator. He is well-known nationally and internationally for his work with at-risk women and their families. His background and expertise is primary care and developmental assessments of HIV and drug-exposed infants, children and adolescents. He was the former director for the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Texas at Houston and the University of Maryland.
Provencio-Vasquez is past president of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, where he raised awareness, value and appropriate compensation for nurse practitioners during his term.
He is a former member of the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, and a current member of the National Advisory Committee of the New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Programs, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. In addition, he holds “fellowship” status in several prestigious national organizations: United States Public Health Service Primary Care Policy Program; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Developing Leadership and Reducing Substance Abuse; American Association of Colleges of Nursing Leadership for Academic Nursing Programs; American Academy of Nurse Practitioners; American Academy of Nursing and Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellows Program.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Latino physician honored
Dr. Eliscer Guzman From The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mayor Bloomberg Among Comunilife Honorees!
The Latino Journal E-News, Vol. 2, Issue 4
On October 30th, Comunilife recognized these five outstanding personalities of the New York City community as it celebrates its 20th Anniversary. Dr. Eliscer Guzman received this prestigious acknowledgment for his vision to provide unique services through the Community Diabetes and Cardiovascular Care Program in association with the Mount Sinai Medical Center.
It is the second recognition in a week that honors Dr. Guzman's commitment with the community. Last Friday, he received the National Hispanic Corporate Achievers (NHCA) Award for the success of the Cardiology and Diabetes Center in the Manhattan area, a facility that serves to the most vulnerable Latino community in the city.
About Dr. Eliscer Guzman
Cardiologist and long-time practitioner of Internal Medicine in New York, Dr. Guzman has actively focused on community education to reduce the diabetes epidemic among Latinos and teach diabetics and their family members how to manage and control the disease. Dr. Guzman is clinically affiliated with The Mount Sinai Medicine School and has distinguished himself through his accomplishments of helping the community address their cardiovascular health conditions. Dr. Guzman is the Founder and Medical Director of the Cardiology and Diabetes Care Center.
The Latino Journal E-News, Vol. 2, Issue 4
On October 30th, Comunilife recognized these five outstanding personalities of the New York City community as it celebrates its 20th Anniversary. Dr. Eliscer Guzman received this prestigious acknowledgment for his vision to provide unique services through the Community Diabetes and Cardiovascular Care Program in association with the Mount Sinai Medical Center.
It is the second recognition in a week that honors Dr. Guzman's commitment with the community. Last Friday, he received the National Hispanic Corporate Achievers (NHCA) Award for the success of the Cardiology and Diabetes Center in the Manhattan area, a facility that serves to the most vulnerable Latino community in the city.
About Dr. Eliscer Guzman
Cardiologist and long-time practitioner of Internal Medicine in New York, Dr. Guzman has actively focused on community education to reduce the diabetes epidemic among Latinos and teach diabetics and their family members how to manage and control the disease. Dr. Guzman is clinically affiliated with The Mount Sinai Medicine School and has distinguished himself through his accomplishments of helping the community address their cardiovascular health conditions. Dr. Guzman is the Founder and Medical Director of the Cardiology and Diabetes Care Center.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Latino physician responds to firing
Prominent Latino physician responds to firing
MD Daily Record, September 11, 2009
Serrano case deserves close attention
If the facts submitted as evidence in this case are reflective of what actually took place (“Fired doctor seeks $24M,” Aug. 26), the integrity tenets of the entire surgical training program at [Johns Hopkins Hospital] have been violated.
Although these cases are rare, they must not be ignored because the outcome will determine policies, processes and systems that will impact surgical training programs across the country.
As details become flushed out, is what Dr. [Oscar K.] Serrano did of such an egregious nature that he should be summarily fired? If this is his first offense, it certainly seems very heavy-handed and over-reacting. Was he given a chance to cure his performance deficiencies?
The apparent outstanding background of Dr. Serrano reflects the over-achieving traits that are found in most Latino medical students and physicians.
Workforce diversity studies and the under supply of Latino physicians in the United States further support the need for Latino post-graduate training residents to be valued and supported since the need is so great and the supply is so [limited].
This case needs to be brought to the attention of all key stakeholders in the field of post-graduate physician training who are impacted by decisions to terminate physician residents.
Robert A. Beltran, M.D., M.B.A.
President, Latino Med Policy Institute
Los Alamitos, Calif.
MD Daily Record, September 11, 2009
Serrano case deserves close attention
If the facts submitted as evidence in this case are reflective of what actually took place (“Fired doctor seeks $24M,” Aug. 26), the integrity tenets of the entire surgical training program at [Johns Hopkins Hospital] have been violated.
Although these cases are rare, they must not be ignored because the outcome will determine policies, processes and systems that will impact surgical training programs across the country.
As details become flushed out, is what Dr. [Oscar K.] Serrano did of such an egregious nature that he should be summarily fired? If this is his first offense, it certainly seems very heavy-handed and over-reacting. Was he given a chance to cure his performance deficiencies?
The apparent outstanding background of Dr. Serrano reflects the over-achieving traits that are found in most Latino medical students and physicians.
Workforce diversity studies and the under supply of Latino physicians in the United States further support the need for Latino post-graduate training residents to be valued and supported since the need is so great and the supply is so [limited].
This case needs to be brought to the attention of all key stakeholders in the field of post-graduate physician training who are impacted by decisions to terminate physician residents.
Robert A. Beltran, M.D., M.B.A.
President, Latino Med Policy Institute
Los Alamitos, Calif.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Latino resident physician fired
Latino resident physician fired from Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Latino Journal E-News, Sept 7, 2009
Dr. Oscar Serrano is a former Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) surgical resident who was featured in the ABC documentary "Hopkins 24/7" is now suing his former employer for 24 million dollars. His suit alleges that he was unlawfully terminated and defamed by JHH officials in an effort to cover up problems with their highly reputable residency program. At a time when the U.S. and the Latino community especially, need physicians, this lawsuit appears to be uncovering a potential snag on how residency programs operate.
Serrano, 30, immigrated with his family to the U.S. when he was 10. His success in school landed him at the prestigious Standford University School of Medicine, where he graduated from, with honors, in 2006. He was signed by JHH to an eight-year surgical residency until April of 2009 when he was fired by JHH officials, Dr. Pamela A. Lipsett, director of the general surgery residency program, and Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag, chief of surgery, who are named separately in the suit.
"If the facts submitted as evidence in this case are reflective of what actually took place, the integrity tenets of the entire surgical training program at Hopkins has been violated," says Dr. Robert Beltran, President of the Latino Med Policy Institute. "Although these cases are rare, they must not be ignored because the outcome will determine policies, processes and systems that will impact surgical training programs across the country."
While at JHH, Dr. Serrano had received "excellent" evaluations during his two years of clinical residency and was the only first-year resident asked to appear on "Hopkins 24/7," an ABC News documentary about the hospital. He was the only resident featured in a hospital-wide United Way campaign for the surgery department and had been elected to a leadership position on a resident committee by his peers. But it was "what appeared to be the administration's effort to cover up the existing problems within the residency program," the lawsuit states.
In the spring of 2008, Lipsett and the administrative chief resident (who is not a defendant) attempted to coach surgical residents as they responded to a survey from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the lawsuit states. The survey is designed to gather unfiltered information from residents to ensure compliance with ACGME standards on working conditions and practical experience. Any negative feedback from ACGME generally requires a program to reform some aspect of the program and reflects badly on the individuals in charge of the program (specifically, Dr. Lipsett and Dr. Freischlag). Serrano objected to "what appeared to be the administration's effort to cover up the existing problems within the residency program," the lawsuit states.
After receiving an anonymous complaint that residents were working more than the maximum number of weekly hours allowed, fearing retaliation for speaking up, and not being allowed to handle a sufficient number of surgical procedures, the ACGME opted to revisit JHH earlier this year. JHH officials then blamed Serrano for the anonymous complaint, then fired him because of mental health problems, a charge denied in Serrano's lawsuit and by his lawyer.
"Even if we go to trial and win, there are always going to be people as a result of this think he is mentally ill, and there is zero basis for that," said Andrew D. Levy of Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP in Baltimore.
"This case needs to be brought to the attention of all key stakeholders in the field of post graduate physician training that are impacted by decision to terminate physician residents," add Beltran. "Workforce diversity studies and the under supply of Latino Physicians in the United States further supports the need for Latino post graduate training residents to be valued and supported since the need is so great and the supply is so few."
The Latino Journal E-News, Sept 7, 2009
Dr. Oscar Serrano is a former Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) surgical resident who was featured in the ABC documentary "Hopkins 24/7" is now suing his former employer for 24 million dollars. His suit alleges that he was unlawfully terminated and defamed by JHH officials in an effort to cover up problems with their highly reputable residency program. At a time when the U.S. and the Latino community especially, need physicians, this lawsuit appears to be uncovering a potential snag on how residency programs operate.
Serrano, 30, immigrated with his family to the U.S. when he was 10. His success in school landed him at the prestigious Standford University School of Medicine, where he graduated from, with honors, in 2006. He was signed by JHH to an eight-year surgical residency until April of 2009 when he was fired by JHH officials, Dr. Pamela A. Lipsett, director of the general surgery residency program, and Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag, chief of surgery, who are named separately in the suit.
"If the facts submitted as evidence in this case are reflective of what actually took place, the integrity tenets of the entire surgical training program at Hopkins has been violated," says Dr. Robert Beltran, President of the Latino Med Policy Institute. "Although these cases are rare, they must not be ignored because the outcome will determine policies, processes and systems that will impact surgical training programs across the country."
While at JHH, Dr. Serrano had received "excellent" evaluations during his two years of clinical residency and was the only first-year resident asked to appear on "Hopkins 24/7," an ABC News documentary about the hospital. He was the only resident featured in a hospital-wide United Way campaign for the surgery department and had been elected to a leadership position on a resident committee by his peers. But it was "what appeared to be the administration's effort to cover up the existing problems within the residency program," the lawsuit states.
In the spring of 2008, Lipsett and the administrative chief resident (who is not a defendant) attempted to coach surgical residents as they responded to a survey from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the lawsuit states. The survey is designed to gather unfiltered information from residents to ensure compliance with ACGME standards on working conditions and practical experience. Any negative feedback from ACGME generally requires a program to reform some aspect of the program and reflects badly on the individuals in charge of the program (specifically, Dr. Lipsett and Dr. Freischlag). Serrano objected to "what appeared to be the administration's effort to cover up the existing problems within the residency program," the lawsuit states.
After receiving an anonymous complaint that residents were working more than the maximum number of weekly hours allowed, fearing retaliation for speaking up, and not being allowed to handle a sufficient number of surgical procedures, the ACGME opted to revisit JHH earlier this year. JHH officials then blamed Serrano for the anonymous complaint, then fired him because of mental health problems, a charge denied in Serrano's lawsuit and by his lawyer.
"Even if we go to trial and win, there are always going to be people as a result of this think he is mentally ill, and there is zero basis for that," said Andrew D. Levy of Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP in Baltimore.
"This case needs to be brought to the attention of all key stakeholders in the field of post graduate physician training that are impacted by decision to terminate physician residents," add Beltran. "Workforce diversity studies and the under supply of Latino Physicians in the United States further supports the need for Latino post graduate training residents to be valued and supported since the need is so great and the supply is so few."
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Hispanic nurses a growing force
Hispanic nurses a growing force
By Elizabeth Allen - Express-News, 07/22/2009
Norma Martinez Rogers took the helm of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses with the twin goals of increasing the number of Hispanic nurses to help with health disparities in that community and building the group's political clout.
Those two themes also dominate the group's annual conference, being held through Friday in San Antonio, where Martinez Rogers grew up.
Some speakers lined up to discuss practicalities such as asthma education among low-income Latinos — the topic of a group of professors and doctors based in Silver Spring, Md. Also on the agenda was testing a disaster-preparedness information card for Hispanics with limited language and literacy, developed by Josefina Lujan, an associate professor with the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso.
Others studying how to best deploy bilingual nurses for Spanish-speaking patients discussed regional recruiting programs for Hispanic and minority nurses.
Having Hispanic nurses brings a health advantage to the Hispanic community, said Martinez Rogers, a professor with the University of Texas Health Science Center and director of Hispanic nurse mentoring programs.
“I think that it's more important to have the representation in the profession, because many of us speak the language, understand the culture,” she said. “Just not Latinos, but self-identifying as Latinos.”
She added, “We are teaching our people to not be afraid to say who you are. Never forget your roots, ever.”
That personal sense of identity, Martinez Rogers finds, feeds naturally into her goal of building the organization.
“I would like for them to learn how to have a voice,” she said. “I often say, ‘No tengan vergüenza — don't be embarrassed.'”
The association is pursuing more chapters and adding members, and this conference — with about 400 people attending and 92 vendors — is the largest the 33-year-old organization has had. Martinez Rogers said a focus on training new presidents in political activism would strengthen it further.
“Latinos are not accustomed to asking for help, asking for money, just asking,” she said. While some may view speaking out as bragging, she said, it is setting an example for others:
“You'll plant a seed and that person will think, ‘I can do that, too.'”
By Elizabeth Allen - Express-News, 07/22/2009
Norma Martinez Rogers took the helm of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses with the twin goals of increasing the number of Hispanic nurses to help with health disparities in that community and building the group's political clout.
Those two themes also dominate the group's annual conference, being held through Friday in San Antonio, where Martinez Rogers grew up.
Some speakers lined up to discuss practicalities such as asthma education among low-income Latinos — the topic of a group of professors and doctors based in Silver Spring, Md. Also on the agenda was testing a disaster-preparedness information card for Hispanics with limited language and literacy, developed by Josefina Lujan, an associate professor with the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso.
Others studying how to best deploy bilingual nurses for Spanish-speaking patients discussed regional recruiting programs for Hispanic and minority nurses.
Having Hispanic nurses brings a health advantage to the Hispanic community, said Martinez Rogers, a professor with the University of Texas Health Science Center and director of Hispanic nurse mentoring programs.
“I think that it's more important to have the representation in the profession, because many of us speak the language, understand the culture,” she said. “Just not Latinos, but self-identifying as Latinos.”
She added, “We are teaching our people to not be afraid to say who you are. Never forget your roots, ever.”
That personal sense of identity, Martinez Rogers finds, feeds naturally into her goal of building the organization.
“I would like for them to learn how to have a voice,” she said. “I often say, ‘No tengan vergüenza — don't be embarrassed.'”
The association is pursuing more chapters and adding members, and this conference — with about 400 people attending and 92 vendors — is the largest the 33-year-old organization has had. Martinez Rogers said a focus on training new presidents in political activism would strengthen it further.
“Latinos are not accustomed to asking for help, asking for money, just asking,” she said. While some may view speaking out as bragging, she said, it is setting an example for others:
“You'll plant a seed and that person will think, ‘I can do that, too.'”
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Latina recruits faculty members for med school
Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
Diversity & skill: Faculty, dedicated specialists ready to teach
By Erica Molina Johnson / El Paso Times, 07/19/2009
EL PASO -- The new Paul L. Foster School of Medicine didn't have much trouble attracting faculty members.
For some, it was the cutting-edge facilities or curriculum that sealed the deal. Others were excited to help build a medical school program from the ground up.
"It's been wonderful -- better than I had dreamed possible," said Dr. Brian Tobin, associate dean and founding chairman of the Department of Medical Education at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.
He joined the school in July 2007 and was responsible for developing the composition of the medical education faculty. Since then, 26 new faculty members have joined the department to help teach the first class of 40 students.
More than 200 people applied for the 26 positions, Tobin said.
Including the new hires, about 200 faculty are on staff at the medical school, said Cindy Camarillo, director of the Office of Faculty Affairs.
Camarillo said a challenge in recruiting medical school faculty was that many of those sought had to be both medical professionals and educators.
"These are physicians and Ph.D.s that have specialized and have chosen to work in schools of medicine, who have the whole package. They are teachers and have their own established careers as well," she said.
Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa, the founding dean of the medical school, said many of the new faculty members have dedicated their careers to education.
"We brought people in from Germany, from Canada. We brought people from Georgia, people from Massachusetts, people from California," he said.
He said the school also looked to existing Texas Tech faculty to teach its first-year students.
"It was an interesting process because a new school is a risk for somebody early in their careers," he said.
De la Rosa said some who were offered jobs declined.
"Some people like the newness, and some people were afraid of the newness," he said.
He said most of the newly hired faculty members are people midway into their careers.
"One of the things that was a change for us was bringing in very junior faculty, people straight out of their post-doctoral programs," De la Rosa said.
This signaled that the school was not only building a staff of senior faculty members but also planning for the future, de la Rosa said.
Tobin said El Paso's medical school is one of only a handful in the nation that has an interdisciplinary department of medical education. The typical model, he said, has a separation between the different departments, such as physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, family medicine and emergency medicine.
"We've poured it all into the same department," Tobin said.
Faculty members in the various disciplines must instead work together within the framework of four courses taken by students during their first two years of medical school.
"The administration and the people who began the process of putting the faculty together were very wise in making people clear ... we were going to be doing something fairly new," said Dr. Kathryn McMahon, a college master and a professor of pharmacology at the school.
The school placed an emphasis on recruiting its four college masters, who will help guide the students through their four years in medical school.
Tobin said it was important to seek out professors who are knowledgeable, skillful, dutiful and altruistic. He reeled off the résumé of one.
"Dr. Gary Simpson, he's an M.D., Ph.D., master of public health, master of clinical science, trained at Oxford and the discoverer of the hanta virus," Tobin said.
Tobin said two more faculty members are expected to join the Department of Medical Education by September. He said two more college masters will be hired by next spring.
"I believe we are way ahead of the other medical schools opening for our successes in recruiting more top-tier faculty," Tobin said. "They may have recruited more researchers, but for opening a medical school, we have recruited more medical educators."
Camarillo said recruitment often isn't seen as a success until a person has been on staff for three years.
"Our recruitment activities don't really end here. Once they sign the contract and step foot in the door, we continue to embrace them, love them, make sure their families are part of the community and that their spouse and kids are happy."
Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com; 546-6132.
Diversity & skill: Faculty, dedicated specialists ready to teach
By Erica Molina Johnson / El Paso Times, 07/19/2009
EL PASO -- The new Paul L. Foster School of Medicine didn't have much trouble attracting faculty members.
For some, it was the cutting-edge facilities or curriculum that sealed the deal. Others were excited to help build a medical school program from the ground up.
"It's been wonderful -- better than I had dreamed possible," said Dr. Brian Tobin, associate dean and founding chairman of the Department of Medical Education at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine.
He joined the school in July 2007 and was responsible for developing the composition of the medical education faculty. Since then, 26 new faculty members have joined the department to help teach the first class of 40 students.
More than 200 people applied for the 26 positions, Tobin said.
Including the new hires, about 200 faculty are on staff at the medical school, said Cindy Camarillo, director of the Office of Faculty Affairs.
Camarillo said a challenge in recruiting medical school faculty was that many of those sought had to be both medical professionals and educators.
"These are physicians and Ph.D.s that have specialized and have chosen to work in schools of medicine, who have the whole package. They are teachers and have their own established careers as well," she said.
Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa, the founding dean of the medical school, said many of the new faculty members have dedicated their careers to education.
"We brought people in from Germany, from Canada. We brought people from Georgia, people from Massachusetts, people from California," he said.
He said the school also looked to existing Texas Tech faculty to teach its first-year students.
"It was an interesting process because a new school is a risk for somebody early in their careers," he said.
De la Rosa said some who were offered jobs declined.
"Some people like the newness, and some people were afraid of the newness," he said.
He said most of the newly hired faculty members are people midway into their careers.
"One of the things that was a change for us was bringing in very junior faculty, people straight out of their post-doctoral programs," De la Rosa said.
This signaled that the school was not only building a staff of senior faculty members but also planning for the future, de la Rosa said.
Tobin said El Paso's medical school is one of only a handful in the nation that has an interdisciplinary department of medical education. The typical model, he said, has a separation between the different departments, such as physiology, anatomy, biochemistry, family medicine and emergency medicine.
"We've poured it all into the same department," Tobin said.
Faculty members in the various disciplines must instead work together within the framework of four courses taken by students during their first two years of medical school.
"The administration and the people who began the process of putting the faculty together were very wise in making people clear ... we were going to be doing something fairly new," said Dr. Kathryn McMahon, a college master and a professor of pharmacology at the school.
The school placed an emphasis on recruiting its four college masters, who will help guide the students through their four years in medical school.
Tobin said it was important to seek out professors who are knowledgeable, skillful, dutiful and altruistic. He reeled off the résumé of one.
"Dr. Gary Simpson, he's an M.D., Ph.D., master of public health, master of clinical science, trained at Oxford and the discoverer of the hanta virus," Tobin said.
Tobin said two more faculty members are expected to join the Department of Medical Education by September. He said two more college masters will be hired by next spring.
"I believe we are way ahead of the other medical schools opening for our successes in recruiting more top-tier faculty," Tobin said. "They may have recruited more researchers, but for opening a medical school, we have recruited more medical educators."
Camarillo said recruitment often isn't seen as a success until a person has been on staff for three years.
"Our recruitment activities don't really end here. Once they sign the contract and step foot in the door, we continue to embrace them, love them, make sure their families are part of the community and that their spouse and kids are happy."
Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com; 546-6132.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Kaiser looking for Latino doctors
Kaiser grant for recruiting Latino doctors
UPI, May 5, 2009
LOS ANGELES, May 5 (UPI) -- Kaiser Permanente announced Tuesday it had made a $2 million grant to a UCLA program that recruits foreign-trained doctors to work in U.S. Latino neighborhoods.
Kaiser said the program is aimed at Latin American medical school graduates and will assist them with passing their U.S. licensing exams in return for working in family medicine residency programs in California.
The goal is to increase the number of doctors serving the large and currently underserved Spanish-speaking community in California.
Dr. Patrick Dowling, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at UCLA, said there were about 2,500 physicians who were trained in Latin America and currently reside legally in California. These doctors, however, are not licensed to practice medicine in the United States.
"We predict California will face a physician shortage of up to 17,000 by 2015 and this shortage disproportionately affects underserved communities," Dowling said in a written statement. "UCLA and its International Medical Graduate Program is committed to helping these skilled individuals navigate the road to licensure."
UPI, May 5, 2009
LOS ANGELES, May 5 (UPI) -- Kaiser Permanente announced Tuesday it had made a $2 million grant to a UCLA program that recruits foreign-trained doctors to work in U.S. Latino neighborhoods.
Kaiser said the program is aimed at Latin American medical school graduates and will assist them with passing their U.S. licensing exams in return for working in family medicine residency programs in California.
The goal is to increase the number of doctors serving the large and currently underserved Spanish-speaking community in California.
Dr. Patrick Dowling, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at UCLA, said there were about 2,500 physicians who were trained in Latin America and currently reside legally in California. These doctors, however, are not licensed to practice medicine in the United States.
"We predict California will face a physician shortage of up to 17,000 by 2015 and this shortage disproportionately affects underserved communities," Dowling said in a written statement. "UCLA and its International Medical Graduate Program is committed to helping these skilled individuals navigate the road to licensure."
Monday, February 2, 2009
Hispanic pediatrician to take over Texas school system
Texas pediatric surgeon becomes 1st Hispanic leader of major US university system
By JAY ROOT | Associated Press Writer February 1, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Mexican-American pediatric surgeon will become the nation's first Hispanic to preside over a major university system when Dr. Francisco Cigarroa takes the helm at the University of Texas System, which faces financial woes and complaints about diversity.
Cigarroa, a 51-year-old pediatric transplant surgeon from Laredo, looks at his new job as the system's new chancellor starting Monday as an opportunity to exceed expectations.
"Challenges really don't dissuade me from pursuing important opportunities," Cigarroa told The Associated Press. "If you're an optimist, you see opportunities, and that's the way I've been brought up."
Cigarroa, as the chief executive officer of the UT System, will help administer an $11.5 billion operating budget and preside over 15 campuses with more than 194,000 students.
He faces complaints about soaring tuition costs, a growing battle over admissions policies and a hurricane-ravaged medical school and health center in Galveston.
To address those issues, the outgoing president of the UT Health Sciences Center in San Antonio will have to enter an arena far dicier than medicine: politics. The state Legislature granted school officials the power to raise tuition rates in 2003, but has been pressuring the school system to stop increases.
Cigarroa has refused to specify his views on tuition restraints but said school UT officials and legislators have to work together to resolve the issue.
He's more passionate about the prospect of changing admissions policies, which currently dictate automatic entry to state universities for students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class.
UT wants the policy relaxed so it can have more say about who gets in the door. At UT-Austin, more than 80 percent of the Texas freshmen gained admission though the top 10 percent provision.
Cigarroa said the system could keep or even increase diversity in the student body even if the top 10 percent law is modified or eliminated.
"I think we can find an appropriate balance where universities not only look at the top 10 percent, but they also look at those wonderfully competitive students who may have not made the top 10 percent but have done something incredibly special," Cigarroa said.
Cigarroa also must deal with the future of University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, which suffered $1 billion in damage from Hurricane Ike.
Cigarroa said revitalizing the facility would be a top priority but he couldn't say what its "appropriate size" would be.
One of nine children born to a doctor and a disciplinarian mother in Laredo, Cigarroa recalls a childhood filled with trips to his grandparents across the border in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. He frequently visits his mother-in-law there.
The Yale graduate received his medical degree, with highest honors, from UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. His surgical prowess has earned him the nickname "manos de oro," or "golden hands."
State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, a longtime family friend, called Cigarroa a "true renaissance man" who represented the changing demographics of Texas.
"Imagine the kind of role model he'll be for young students," she said. "Imagine how many parents will look at him proudly."
By JAY ROOT | Associated Press Writer February 1, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Mexican-American pediatric surgeon will become the nation's first Hispanic to preside over a major university system when Dr. Francisco Cigarroa takes the helm at the University of Texas System, which faces financial woes and complaints about diversity.
Cigarroa, a 51-year-old pediatric transplant surgeon from Laredo, looks at his new job as the system's new chancellor starting Monday as an opportunity to exceed expectations.
"Challenges really don't dissuade me from pursuing important opportunities," Cigarroa told The Associated Press. "If you're an optimist, you see opportunities, and that's the way I've been brought up."
Cigarroa, as the chief executive officer of the UT System, will help administer an $11.5 billion operating budget and preside over 15 campuses with more than 194,000 students.
He faces complaints about soaring tuition costs, a growing battle over admissions policies and a hurricane-ravaged medical school and health center in Galveston.
To address those issues, the outgoing president of the UT Health Sciences Center in San Antonio will have to enter an arena far dicier than medicine: politics. The state Legislature granted school officials the power to raise tuition rates in 2003, but has been pressuring the school system to stop increases.
Cigarroa has refused to specify his views on tuition restraints but said school UT officials and legislators have to work together to resolve the issue.
He's more passionate about the prospect of changing admissions policies, which currently dictate automatic entry to state universities for students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school class.
UT wants the policy relaxed so it can have more say about who gets in the door. At UT-Austin, more than 80 percent of the Texas freshmen gained admission though the top 10 percent provision.
Cigarroa said the system could keep or even increase diversity in the student body even if the top 10 percent law is modified or eliminated.
"I think we can find an appropriate balance where universities not only look at the top 10 percent, but they also look at those wonderfully competitive students who may have not made the top 10 percent but have done something incredibly special," Cigarroa said.
Cigarroa also must deal with the future of University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, which suffered $1 billion in damage from Hurricane Ike.
Cigarroa said revitalizing the facility would be a top priority but he couldn't say what its "appropriate size" would be.
One of nine children born to a doctor and a disciplinarian mother in Laredo, Cigarroa recalls a childhood filled with trips to his grandparents across the border in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. He frequently visits his mother-in-law there.
The Yale graduate received his medical degree, with highest honors, from UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. His surgical prowess has earned him the nickname "manos de oro," or "golden hands."
State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, a longtime family friend, called Cigarroa a "true renaissance man" who represented the changing demographics of Texas.
"Imagine the kind of role model he'll be for young students," she said. "Imagine how many parents will look at him proudly."
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