BOYLE HEIGHTS : Doctor Lauded for Work in Community

The California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development recently recognized Dr. Hector Flores of White Memorial Medical Center for his work in addressing the health care needs of underserved populations.

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development runs programs to prepare college students for education in the health professions. Flores was enrolled in such a program before he began working at White Memorial in 1988.

“(This award) is showing that the state is reaping the benefits of its own programs,” said Dr. Luis Samaniego, who along with Flores co-chairs the hospital’s Family Practice Residency Program, designed to serve the Latino community in East Los Angeles with medical services and health care education programs.

Flores, 39, also serves on the Los Angeles County Health Task Force and has been asked to review the Clinton Administration’s proposed health care plan for its impact on the Latino community. He was on vacation last week and could not be reached for comment.

The Family Practice Residency Program helped the medical center change its focus from being a specialty care hospital to one that delivers primary care to the neighboring population, Samaniego said. It was started by Dr. Sanford Bloom in 1988, and then handed off to Samaniego and Flores.

At that time, there were 62 primary care physicians serving 250,000 residents--or one doctor for every 4,000 people--in the Eastside and only one of those doctors was accredited by the American Board of Family Practice. In West Los Angeles, there was one doctor for every 400 people.

Then, as now, there was a critical need for primary health care in the community, and so the residency program was begun, Samaniego said. Now, there are 12 board-certified family practice physicians working at White Memorial and another 15 residents in training.