A. How Far Have We Come

Wilma Wooten, MD, President - Golden State Medical Association, San Diego Chapter
Hector Flores, MD, Board Member - California Latino Medical Association

"A Dream Today, a Reality Tomorrow . . . Reach for the Future." Wilma Wooten, MD.

"The challenge we face with health disparities is not a 'minority' issue but a 'mainstream' one." Hector Flores, MD.

Dr. Wooten provided a comprehensive look at the past and present of the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations as well as her vision for its future. She reviewed the Network's chronology from the first Summit in 2002 through the present and reminded the audience of their early accomplishments: a commitment to organize, the creation of a mission statement and organizational objectives, the development of the EPOs' first collective position statement on the healthcare budget reductions in Los Angeles and its united stand against Proposition 54.

Dr. Wooten highlighted other accomplishments of the EPO project, including:

• Identification of over 40 Ethnic Physician Organizations.
  
• Publication of the Report on the State of Ethnic Physician Organizations in California.
  
• Staff support for the establishment of the Network.
  
• Hosting of three EPO Summits.
  
• Launching of the EPO project website.
  
• Securing of grant funding and the hiring of a fulltime director to strengthen the Network and facilitate its work in public policy and community health.

Dr. Wooten also presented a compelling vision for the future of the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations. That vision includes working to strengthen the infrastructure of the Ethnic Physician Organizations throughout California and building a policy advocacy capacity that will ensure that ethnic physicians are always represented at the table when health care decisions are being made. Her vision also included a major role for the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations in addressing health disparities through public policy advocacy as well as through health care delivery and community service. She emphasized the importance of strengthening partnerships, both among the Ethnic Physician Organizations and between EPOs and their communities.

Dr. Flores congratulated the Network on its rapid development over the past year and a half and for its contribution to the defeat of Proposition 54.

Dr. Flores then discussed the direction of the development of the California Latino Medical Association (CaLMA) as a potentially useful model for the Network. He underscored the importance of adopting a common vision and of the benefits of a nonpartisan and non-racial orientation in their approach. He spoke about the importance of tolerating a broad variety of viewpoints and developing the ability to "agree to disagree."

Promoting cultural competence is one of CaLMA's priorities. Dr. Flores noted that, while there is an expectation that all ethnic physicians are culturally competent, there is still much to be learned. CaLMA is undertaking a project that will explore the meaning of the concept of cultural competence, develop a statewide cultural competence plan, and promote adoption of an expanded view of diversity to include gender, sexual orientation, and age, as well as race, ethnicity, language, and immigration status.