The daughter of a biology professor mother and an agricultural engineer father, Dr. Guisela Juarez was always drawn to the sciences and got to see firsthand the inequality of the countryside in her native El Salvador.
She combined both of those interests when she became a doctor with the intent to help people directly, something she continues to do now as Chief Operating Officer for Clinica Romero.
She honed her skills for this role as medical director for community clinics in her native country and continues to do the same now in Los Angeles, where she is responsible for making sure a number of Clinica Romero’s programs run smoothly when it comes to direct service to patients. Whether it’s street medicine, the HIV program, behavioral health, or substance abuse, Dr. Juarez oversees them all.
“By doing this, it’s beyond helping a patient one at a time,” says Dr. Juarez, who studied in El Salvador and Cuba before joining the International Medical Graduates program at UCLA. “(In this role), you have the opportunity to help a larger number of individuals in the community by leading great health programs that positively impact the community.”
“One of the vital parts of my role as COO is to transform the way we provide medicine,” she explains.
One way of doing this is to view health inclusively, tackling not just the ailments but also the other factors that may impact a person’s well-being.
For instance, if a patient is food insecure, a staff member at the clinic will sit with them to help apply for food stamps. The clinic’s sites in Marengo and Alvarado also hold food distributions regularly, or patients are referred to local organizations hosting similar events.
The clinic also partners with the Baby2Baby program to distribute diapers, baby clothes, car seats, portable cribs, and other baby products.
For homeless individuals or those lacking reliable housing, the clinic staff helps them find shelter or permanent housing. And if a person lacks transportation, the clinic offers Uber Health or free transportation to their sites.
The idea behind providing these services is to address the “social determinants of health” so that “when they come to see a doctor, they don’t have any additional worries,” Dr. Juarez explains.
FROM THE COMMUNITY FOR THE COMMUNITY
To ensure these services are culturally sensitive to the needs of the community, Dr. Juarez relies on staff who also come from those communities.
This is especially important when it comes to women’s health.
Their services for this demographic cover the female body from birth and adolescence to adulthood and later years, with programs focused on sexual and reproductive health, pregnancy, postpartum care, and family planning, among others.
“Women’s health is a priority,” Dr. Juarez notes. “Women play a very important role in the family and society. If the mother is well, her family will be well.”
She stresses self-care for women because, with the stresses of work and caring for children and husbands, they sometimes put their own health on the backburner.
One way to ensure women are taking care of themselves is by having them undergo regular screenings that help detect and avoid serious health problems later.
For instance, she recommends self-breast exams ten days after menstruation and mammograms every year from age 40 until 74.
Pap smears are recommended for cervical cancer screenings and, depending on age and risk factors, should generally start at age 21 and continue until age 65.
Should a Pap smear detect anything out of the ordinary, the patient will be referred to a gynecologist, who may perform a colposcopy and/or biopsy before referring them to an oncologist at a hospital.
MENOPAUSE
While the majority of the women Clinica Romero offers services to are those in their fertile years, they also see women going through menopause, a period of hormonal changes that all women experience, she said.
Nowadays, there are a number of treatments that can help with the symptoms.
“During this phase, it’s important to be aware of any signs of alarm, such as bleeding or pain under the belly that may not be normal,” she added. “That may indicate other problems.”
The most important thing, she stresses, is for women to be honest and frank with their doctors and relay the full state of their health so that they can be properly diagnosed and treated.
“We have professionals highly trained who can create a health plan with the patient to help them improve their symptoms,” she says.
“We (doctors) exist to improve the quality of life for our community.”
Making sure the patient feels comfortable, understood, and properly attended to is ultimately what Dr. Juarez strives for in her role as COO.
“Helping our own patients is great,” she says. “But in my role, I can help people in large numbers through the programs we have and our health team. We do a lot of satisfying work, and that fills me with satisfaction too.”
