Intrepid immigrant goes up health career ladder by serving the grassroots
Pedro Ramirez, health program director. PHOTO BY TETBEE PHOTOGRAPHY
LOS ANGELES, California — Barely eight weeks in this country in 2002, Pedro Ramirez secured a key job by knowing where to find statistics and sticking to his passion. He applied for a position at the oldest hospital in the city (founded in 1856) to coordinate a “Women’s Study.”
Today, Ramirez is the first Filipino American director of a thriving Multi-Cultural Health Awareness and Prevention (MHAP) Center at St. Vincent Medical Center.
But when he was applying for the “Women’s Study” job in 2002, Ramirez “only” had the background of a community organizer in the old country and his bachelor’s degree. His disadvantage was that the only local job he had to show for was as a gas station employee in Panorama City.
This , however, turned out to be a charm. According to a study, more Asian Americans reside in Panorama City than in any other city in L.A. Ten percent of this diverse area in San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles, is populated by Filipinos of which 49 percent are women. He applied for the job, and after an interview was hired as coordinator for a Filipina Women Survey on Breast Cancer.
Ramirez teamed up with St. Vincent’s team and American Cancer Society (ACS) and conducted a survey on breast cancer incidents among 350 female respondents coming from St. Genevieve Church, the Filipino American Community of LA (FACLA) and other local groups. The statistics, he found out, were shocking. The second leading cause of death among Filipino women in LA was breast cancer (cardiovascular disease was the first).
Key findings
The survey showed that many Filipino American immigrant women didn’t participate in early screening programs. Ninety percent of the survey participants knew female compatriots who had or have had breast cancer. A majority of them were not referred to mammograms as an early screening intervention. They expressed embarrassment in showing their body to a medical practitioner, and especially to male doctors. Then there was their cultural and religious upbringing that dissuade them from participating: “Bahala na ang Diyos.”
For Ramirez, the most attractive element of the job at St. Vincent’s was organizing. “My life in the Philippines was devoted to community organizing, not for political reasons but to help re-build the community around me.”
The Multicultural Health Awareness and Prevention (MHAP) Center that Ramirez leads today is one of St. Vincent Medical Center’s key community outreach and benefit programs.
They focus on health education, disease prevention, early detection and information and referral services for high-risk ethnic communities including Korean, Latino, Filipino and Chinese and other vulnerable populations in the central Los Angeles area.
This program reflects the St. Vincent Medical Center’s long tradition and commitment to provide care for low-income and underserved adults, children and families in the surrounding communities. MHAP’s outreach is a cornerstone of the medical center’s mission to serve the sick poor in the timeless tradition of the Daughters of Charity.
Activist background
Ramirez was a youth activist in the Philippines, having grown up in metropolitan Quezon City and participated in civic projects to alleviate conditions for the street children and their families.
Ramirez recalls combing the streets of Metro Manila and throwing a huge “safety net” to gather the street children and linking them up with social agencies and non-governmental agencies to sponsor their skills development.
Prior to immigrating here he had a successful career in Manila as project operations manager of a government-accredited program, “Haligi ng Bata.” This program still serves the needs of thousands of displaced children in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, La Union and Bacolod and helps them become economically self-sufficient.
Ramirez recalls poignant scenes in Manila: “It broke my heart to see children looking in on Jollibee’s windows– their only wish list was to attend a Jollibee birthday party.” He remembers starting sponsored events at the popular fast food outlet celebrating occasions for 100 indigent children and their parents, who also had not been to such a place.
At St. Vincent’s Ramirez studied the service plan area, or the 13 zip codes key to the metro Los Angeles area. Then he linked up with critical resources of the Filipino American residents: Historic Filipino Town; Pilipino Workers Center; Philippine Consulate, among others.
Gas station job served him well
Ramirez’s initial job in a gas station served him well. He quickly learned about the city’s class layers by connecting with the man-on-the-street; the best place to get to talk to them was at a gas station.
As an organizer, he launched his “social investigation” by connecting with his customers – rich, poor, old, young, men and women, able-bodied, disabled. They all bought gas what ever their economic status. He got their stories–the needs and woes of a big, glitzy city.
The Women’s Project in St. Vincent’s thrives today and has expanded into a comprehensive community outreach and health promotion to include various chronic illnesses, with various groups branching out to free community health fairs in LA.
These projects – from the South Central Los Angeles Ministry project to monthly community Women’s Health Forum and Services that includes mammography screening, Glucose/Diabetes Screening, HIV Screening, among others–serve other communities not just Filipinos.
Ramirez not only landed the job, but after eight years he also created his current position; he was named director of MHAP in 2006. He is assisted in his tasks by a staff of eight from the local Korean, Thai, Salvadoran and Filipinos communities.
Most rewarding
“It is most rewarding that I’m able to continue pursuing my passion–bringing services to the marginalized sector of society, be it here in the U.S. or the Philippines,” said Ramirez.
He serves humbly, receiving awards and recognition from groups and individuals including the LA City Council, Lions Club, St. Vincent’s (which called him “Hospital Hero”) to name a few.
Ramirez has also organized five medical missions to the Philippines, bringing doctors and volunteers to some of the most isolated and impoverished areas of the islands. He is the co-founder/organizer of the Comprehensive Cancer Care Coalition in Los Angeles and serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the West Coast University and the Worksite Wellness in LA.
In May, Ramirez will receive the 2014 Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) Community Award at the Biltmore Hotel.
His advice to those seeking a fulfilling career: “Try to not become a person of success but a person of value, to paraphrase Einstein. Value to me means following a mission from God, a mission with no end.”
