Dr. Albert and Maria Arteaga of LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc.
“You can’t just have the vaccine in stock and wait for people to show up. That’s why we reach out to let people know their children can be vaccinated at any time when our clinics are open.”
(Redlands, Calif.) Dr. Albert Arteaga, MD, CEO of LaSalle Medical Associates, says that all LaSalle clinics have started delivering the Covid-19 vaccine to children.
“We have the Covid19 vaccines in stock, and we have completed training our people on dosages, proper delivery, and administration,” says Dr. Arteaga. “We also have started an active outreach campaign to all of our patients to let them know they can bring their children in to get vaccinated.”
LaSalle Medical Associates has been ahead of the curve for vaccine administration for decades, particularly for pediatric illnesses. “I remember 25 years ago we thought childhood vaccinations must have been around 100 percent. We were very far off. The national statistics came out saying compliance was only 30–40 percent. At LaSalle we were doing a lot better, around 60 percent, but that still did not meet our standards, and that’s why we have been so focused on outreach ever since,” says Dr. Arteaga.
Dr. Arteaga adds, “Since the government started compiling records and keeping track of the percentage of people getting vaccinated, we now have a much more accurate picture of how effective vaccination programs are.”
Being proactive leads to higher vaccine compliance. Calling parents to let them know they should bring in their youngsters to get vaccinated means that prevention is likely to be a lot more effective.
April Reya a medical assistant, gives the COVID-19 vaccination shot to Vicki Creighton, of Riverside, Recently, at the LaSalle Medical Associates medical office located in Rialto, Calif. Creighton received the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
Dr. Arteaga also reveals his personal shot-administration secret: “Children typically don’t like getting a shot. So, I tell them this shot is painless. But if they do feel pain, I can always give them a second shot for the pain. I’ve never had a child ask for that second shot.”
A nurse or physician’s bedside manner means a lot, particularly with children. Keeping things light and avoiding a stern attitude helps the entire experience go down more easily for both the patient and the caregiver.
LaSalle’s clinics have been recognized in the past for their well-above-average vaccination delivery, recording rates above 80 or even 90 percent compliance for flu shots, for example. Dr. Arteaga says, “It’s all because we really push for people to care for themselves.”
Dr. Arteaga also tackles the myth that if people are feeling ill, they should not get a vaccine shot. “Not true,” says the doctor, “unless you’re quite ill. If you have a cold, the sniffles, whatever, it’s perfectly safe and advisable to get your Covid 19 Vaccine.”
Dr. Arteaga restates his mantra that it’s not enough to have vaccines on the shelf. They need to be available during all regularly open clinic hours, and that’s the longstanding LaSalle policy.
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc., clinics accept Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Molina, Care 1st, Health Net, and Inland Empire Health Plan coverage, as well as Medicare and Medi-Cal.
For more information about LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc call the office closest to you: Fontana (909) 823-4454; San Bernardino 17th Street (909) 887-6494; San Bernardino Mt. Vernon Ave. (909) 884-9091; Rialto (855) 349-6019; Hesperia (760) 947-2161; and Victorville (855) 349-6019.
April Reya a medical assistant, gives the COVID-19 vaccination shot to Alicia Cazenave, of San Bernardino, Recently,at the LaSalle Medical Associates medical office located in Rialto, Calif. Cazenave received the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine. (Photo by Valda Wilson)
“People of color are tired of being treated differently by doctors because of their skin color. At LaSalle, we pride ourselves on treating all patients with respect and giving them the care, they need, regardless of their ethnicity,” said Dr. Albert Arteaga, MD, founder and CEO of LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc.
In a new policy statement, “Eliminating Race-Based Medicine,” pre-published online May 2, 2022, in Pediatrics, the AAP observes that race is a historically derived social construct that has no place as a biologic proxy. Over the years, the medical field has inaccurately applied race correction or race adjustment factors in its work, resulting in differential approaches to disease management and disparate clinical outcomes.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics is taking an important step toward dismantling race-based medicine. This effort calls for acknowledging the impact that differential lived experiences have on individual and population health outcomes through a race-conscious health equity lens rather than through approaches that have inappropriately identified skin color as an independent risk-adjusting variable,” Dr. Wright said.
“Social determinants of health need to be carefully considered in the development of care delivery strategies including factors embedded in broad categories such as access, the physical environmental and community supports. Evidence informed incorporation of these factors is vital in all areas of medicine.”
“We are honored to have more Doctors to help serve the thousands of patients who have placed their trust in our network of primary physicians and healthcare professionals in California,” said Dr. Albert Arteaga founder and Chief Executive officer of LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. Left to Right: Dr. Joseph V. Selvarj, Dr. Albert Arteaga, Dr. Cheryl Emoto, and Dr. Felix A. Albano.
Dr. Albert Arteaga, MD, CEO of LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc., says, “As a minority-owned organization, we have never treated any patient—adult or child—with any but the most conscientious and rigorous care. Many of our doctors and support staff are themselves minorities and they know very well how important it is to make all patients feel comfortable and to deliver to all patients the highest standard, the gold standard, of care.”
Race-based care has been pervasive for decades. One example is how some pediatricians deal with Black children who may be suffering from a urinary tract infection. According to Dr. Joseph L. Wright, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, from American Academy of Pediatrics, rather than apply the gold standard test, they use a lesser procedure because they assume that Black children don’t get urinary tract infections as often as white children.
April Reya a medical assistant, gives the COVID-19 vaccination shot to Vicki Creighton, of Riverside, Recently, at the LaSalle Medical Associates medical office located in Rialto, Calif. Creighton received the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
But that is not the case at LaSalle. “When we interview prospective providers, we make sure that they are in sync with our values and standards,” says Dr. Arteaga. “The gold standard is the only standard we apply to the people under our care.”
After two years of virtual doctor visits, all of LaSalle six clinics are open for person-to-person patient visits. Clinics are now open in San Bernardino, Rialto, Fontana, Hesperia and Victorville which is temporarily closed.
“The evolution of modern medicine has produced incredible advancements and accomplishments in health care,” Dr. Wright said. “But we must acknowledge and address the stark inequities that persist in leaving vulnerable populations behind. We are better than this. Now is the time for change.”
For more information or to make an appointment at a LaSalle Medical Associates Clinic call: Fontana (909) 823-4454; San Bernardino 17th Street (909) 887-6494 pediatrics only clinic; San Bernardino Mt. Vernon Ave. (909) 884-9091; Rialto (855) 349-6019; and Hesperia (760) 947-2161.
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. is one of the largest, independent, and Latino-owned healthcare companies in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The corporate office is in Redlands.
LaSalle operates six clinics employing more than 100 dedicated healthcare professionals, treating children, adults and seniors in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. LaSalle’s patients are primarily served by Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. LaSalle also accepts Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Molina, Care 1st, Health Net, and Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) coverage.
LaSalle is also an Independent Practice Association (IPA) of independently contracted doctors, hospitals, and clinics, delivering high quality patient care to approximately365,000 patients in Fresno, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, and Tulare counties.
“We are honored to have more Doctors to help serve the thousands of patients who have placed their trust in our network of primary physicians and healthcare professionals in California,” said Dr. Albert Arteaga founder and Chief Executive officer of LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. Left to Right: Dr. Joseph V. Selvarj, Dr. Albert Arteaga, Dr. Cheryl Emoto, and Dr. Felix A. Albano.
“People are tired of virtual doctor visits,” says LaSalle President Dr. Albert Arteaga, “they want to see their doctor in person again, and we want them to know that at LaSalle Medical Associates, the doctor is in.”
(Redlands, Calif.)The Covid-19 pandemic in the USA has many people feeling like they are between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, deaths and hospitalizations are declining, but on the other hand, a new variation is causing rising infections.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the pandemic is receding, but people still need to take precautions.
Dr. Anthony Stephen Fauci OMRI director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President is saying that we are moving from a pandemic to a less virulent phase, the Associated Press reported on April 27.
In other words, Covid is not going away. Like colds or the flu, it may be here to stay, but weaker. But that does not mean we can just pretend everything is like it was before Covid-19.
Dr. Albert Arteaga, the President of LaSalle Medical Associates, says that the health care providers that provide services through his organization’s network, have been seeing patients remotely for the past two years and those patients want personal patient-to-doctor contact again.
“Thankfully,” says Arteaga, “we now are in a position to accommodate in-person patient visits again. At LaSalle, the doctor is in!”
To wear a mask or not wear a mask, that is the question. One person who still wears a mask when she goes to the supermarket said, “I still wear a mask when I’m out in public places because in the two years we’ve all been told we should wear them, I have not had a cold or the flu, let alone the Covid. Masks seem to keep all the viruses away.”
LaSalle Medical Associates operates clinics in Fontana, Hesperia, Rialto, Victorville and two in San Bernardino. La Salle has also been teaming up with community-based organizations, including churches, to administer free Covid vaccine shots.
Maria and Dr. Albert Arteaga. The California Medical Association awarded Dr. Albert Arteaga the “Ethnic Physician’s Leadership Award,” recognizing his contributions to medical care in the Latino community.
For more information or an appointment to a LaSalle Clinic, visit LaSalleMedicalAssociates.com or call (909) 890-0407.
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. is one of the largest, independent, and Latino-owned healthcare companies in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The corporate office is in Redlands.
LaSalle operates six clinics employing more than 100 dedicated healthcare professionals, treating children, adults and seniors in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. LaSalle’s patients are primarily served by Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. LaSalle also accepts Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Molina, Care 1st, Health Net, and Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) coverage.
LaSalle is also an Independent Practice Association (IPA) of independently contracted doctors, hospitals and clinics, delivering high quality patient care to approximately 365,000 patients in Fresno, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Joaquin and Tulare counties.
The new Bus Shelter Ad for Making Hope Happen’s Inland Empire Men’s Mental Health Program’s campaign: Friendship is good for our mental health.
“One of the things we learn in Adult Mental Health First Aid, is that spending time with your friends is good for your mental health,” said Ceseña.
(San Bernardino, Calif.) “It’s one of those ‘everybody knows’ things, that men tend to be reluctant to ask for help when they need it. To counter the negative stigma that’s attached to the whole mental health industry, we now offer classes for people who have friends or family that may be going through some tough times,” said Inland Empire Men’s Mental Health Program Manager Gerzon Ceseña.
The Making Hope Happen Foundation offers free classes through its Inland Empire Men’s Mental Health program for people who would like to help adults and youngsters who may be having a tough time.
Ceseña says, “We have three classes that teach about the warning signs for things ranging from aggressive acting-out to panic attacks, from depression to suicidal thoughts, and the right and wrong ways to approach those who are going through a rough patch and help them.”
“One of the things we learn in Adult Mental Health First Aid, is that spending time with your friends is good for your mental health,” said Ceseña.
The three classes are: QPR (Question / Persuade / Refer) Gatekeeper, Adult Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid.
The QPR Gatekeeper course is the shortest of the three, taking only about an hour to 90 minutes, depending on how many people are enrolled and the number of questions that are raised during the training. It covers the essentials of recognizing problem symptoms and how to help.
Andy Quintana and Perry Madison in a Dameron Communicaitons commercial for the Men’s Mental Health Foundation filmed to run until November 2022. Directed by Shani Renee Hamilton, written and produced by Carl Dameron.
The Adult Mental Health First Aid class has seven sections and includes videos, role-playing and descriptive scenarios so participants can rehearse realistic situations with a knowledgeable instructor and be prepared to help someone who might be reluctant to open up to mental health professional but will talk with a friend.
Youth Mental Health First Aid has a self-paced opening section, followed by four more sections that cover various aspects of how to be an effective friend to a youth having problems.
Ceseña recommends the QPR Gatekeeper course as a first step for people who are interested in the training. “From there, QPR grads can go on to either the Adult or Youth First Aid class, depending on their individual focus,” he notes. Classes are delivered online via the Zoom Video Conference tool.
Making Hope Happen is a nonprofit foundation linked with the San Bernardino City Unified School District. The nonprofit is based on the philosophy of Gallop Senior Scientist Dr. Shane J. Lopez. Hope allows people to envision a better future, design a path toward that future, and take purposeful steps toward it. As a result of a deep commitment to this quest, the San Bernardino Community and School Alliance (CASA was reorganized and renamed the Making Hope Happen Foundation).
The Foundation’s Inland Empire Men’s Mental Health program offers free mental health training for people who would like to be able to help friends or family members that would like to learn effective ways to approach friends or family members who seem to he has emotional or mental health problems but aren’t sure about what to say or do.
For more information on The IE Men’s Mental Health Program go to the group’s web page at IEMensMentalHealth.org or call (909) 347-7234.
Shanna Bowen is the Social Media Director at Dameron Communications
(San Bernardino, Calf.)Shanna Bowen, a social media expert with more than 15 years’ experience creating and implementing successful social media campaigns, is the social media director for Dameron Communications. Shanna joined the team in 2020.
“We are pioneers in the social media marketing. Dameron Communcations started working in social media from the inception of the platforms with AOL and Myspace in 2003,” said agency creative director and founder Carl M. Dameron.
While Shanna is too young to be a social media pioneer, she has extensive success and experience in the field. “I develop social media content and plans to advance our clients’ brand identity,” said Bowen.
“Shanna creates consistent, meaningful content on all social media platforms, including writing and editing social media posts, maximizing customer engagement, and promoting social media campaigns,” said Dameron.
She manages a high volume of daily social media posts. She communicates with social media followers, including responding to participant questions. Shanna also develops and manages social influencer programs; and, she creates social media events.
“We are delighted to have Shanna on the Dameron Communications team of diverse, talented Communications professionals,” said Dameron. “Her creativity, knowledge and skill in social media is an asset to the team and keeps our client’s in touch with their clients, while creating new follwers to advance each client’s individual communications goals.”
Shanna uses analytical tools such as Google Analytics, Hootsuite Pro, and other social media insight tools to monitor and evaluate our clients’ social media presence and performance. She prepares weekly and monthly reports on social media marketing efforts.
Shanna constantly adjusts the social media marketing strategy for optimal results. She also stays up to date on best practices and emerging trends in social media.
For more information on social media marketing call Carl M. Dameron at (909) 534-9500 or email Carl@DameronCommunications.com
About Dameron Communications
Dameron Communications’ is a diverse team of communications professionals delivering inspired advertising: public relations, community relations and government relations. The Agency’s work has won awards and client accolades for more than 30 years. Uniquely, we blend unsurpassed relationships with proven advertising and public relations methods to deliver winning and measurable results.
Carl Dameron, creative director of Dameron Communications. “Sharing your stories is fun. Let me share the secrets behind successful public relations and advertising.
To the people who know and work with him, Carl M. Dameron is a dynamic, hard-driving, award-winning advertising and public relations expert with more than 30 years of success helping organizations and people throughout California meet their goals.
He is also a cancer survivor. In this edition of SoCal Voices, Carl shares the story of starting and growing his company, how he dealt with his cancer diagnosis and offers sage advice for anyone facing a challenge.
Dameron Communications services include: advertising for television, social media, radio, newspaper, magazine, and billboards, web sites, direct mail, mobile web applications, and email. They also deliver award winning public relations press releases, press conferences, media relations, television programs, web sites, opinion editorials, promotions, event creation and management, government relations and community relations.
For more information on Dameron Communications call Carl M. Dameron @ (909) 534-9500.
Bath tubs and showers at Arboleda are very accessible with built in shower seats, several handrails and adjustable shower heads to aid seniors in comfort and necessity.
(La Puente, Calif.) Resident Manager Selina R. Chavira can’t wait to meet all her new neighbors and begin creating a community where seniors can live their best lives when the Arboleda Senior Apartments open this summer in La Puente.
“I have a real heart for seniors,” she said. “I was very close to my grandparents, and they were very special to me. I want to create a very special place where seniors can be healthy, happy and safe.”
The Arboleda Senior Apartments feature a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments for seniors 62 and better. The 74-unit apartment community includes a large community room, fitness center, computer center, and library. Other senior-friendly amenities include an interior mail room, laundry room on each floor, corridors with secure handrails and two elevators.
The upscale 74-unit Arboleda Senior Apartment community is contracting with EngAGE, a non-profit organization that takes a whole-person approach to community and creative, healthy aging by providing arts, wellness, lifelong learning, community building and intergenerational programs to seniors.
Construction continues at the Arboleda apartments. High quality wood cabinets are installed with not just luxury in mind but practicality. While wood cabinets cost a little more in construction, they last for 30 years noticeably reducing maintenance and repair costs.
EngAGE is an experienced organization that already serves thousands of seniors and families living in affordable senior and multi-generational apartment communities. At Arboleda, programs will be provided on-site for residents at no charge
Programs like these are key to building beneficial community connections, as Chavira knows first-hand.
“One of my grandmothers lived in a senior community for several years, and she was very close to the people who lived there. She went to the jewelry-making classes and enjoyed the birthday celebrations, games and yard sales where seniors made crafts and sold them.
“My grandma loved crocheting beanies for cancer patients and preemies, and they even gave her an award for her work,” Chavira said.
“The Spanish-style buildings are beautiful, the coverings over the windows are really quaint and I like all the iron decorations on the property,” said Selina R. Chavira, resident manager of Arboleda Senior Apartments. “The iron-work designs are very striking.”
“She loved being part of that community. She loved making friends and sharing interesting activities with her neighbors,” Chavira said. “We’re going to do that at Arboleda!”
Selina Chavira is also looking forward to showing off Arboleda Senior Apartments to her parents when they visit in August for a family event.
“My family lived just down the street,” Chavira said. “My parents are very active and they love the area. They love hiking the trails at nearby Schabarum Regional Park.
“They’ll see that the Arboleda Senior Apartments are definitely a central place close to everything seniors need — medical offices, stores to shop, public transportation, a Post Office, pharmacies and restaurants,” she said.
The upscale 74-unit Arboleda Senior Apartment community includes two types of balcony with wrought iron railings, a large community room, fitness center, computer center, and library. Other senior-friendly amenities include an interior mail room, laundry room on each floor, corridors with secure handrails and two large elevators.
For more information on Arboleda Senior Apartments, go to ArboledaSeniorApts.com or call Resident Manager Selina Chavira at (626) 423-6695.
Family members can rest easy and be confident, knowing their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are enjoying comfort and good company at Arboleda Senior Apartments.
“It’s really beautiful, with the look of a boutique resort with affordable rents for seniors.” said Kim Pollack, vice president of WSH Management, the manager of Arboleda Senior Apartments
(La Puente, Calif.). Seniors and family members looking for safe, comfortable living for themselves or their loved ones will find what they’re looking for at Arboleda Senior Apartments in La Puente.
The beautiful 74-unit apartment community features energy-efficient kitchens, a large community room, fitness center, computer center, library and more. It’s a great place where seniors 62 and better can call home.
“It’s really beautiful, with the look of a boutique resort with affordable rents for seniors.”
said Kim Pollack, vice president of WSH Management, the manager of Arboleda Senior Apartments.
From the outside, the apartment community evokes California’s classic Mission heritage with Spanish-style architecture, featuring white walls with wrought-iron accents, red tile roofs and a large central courtyard with shade trees and outdoor seating – the perfect place to relax during one of the region’s many beautiful days!
The comfortable one-and two-bedroom apartments each have individual heating and air conditioning units, as well as full-size closets, bathrooms and kitchens. The units and common areas also are spacious, beautifully decorated and handicapped-accessible.
Arboleda residents will enjoy the San Gabriel Valley’s beautiful weather year-round, thanks to terraces on each ground-floor unit and balconies on each second-floor unit.
The senior apartments are also close to medical centers, parks, shopping and dining and many of the services that seniors regularly need and enjoy.
Family members can rest easy and be confident, knowing their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are enjoying comfort and good company at Arboleda Senior Apartments
Construction on the Arboleda Senior Apartments is expected to be finished early this summer, and Pollack said residents will start moving in June of 2021.
“Rents range from $845 to $1,267 per month, which was partly funded by state and federal housing funds. The maximum allowable annual income is $47,340 for one person and $54,060 for a two-person household,” Pollack said.
The company already has started a pre-qualification process and is gathering basic information from people interested in making Arboleda Senior Apartments their home.
For more information contact WSH Management at ArboledaSeniorApts.com or by calling (626) 423-6995.
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc Celebrates 30 years of medical service. Left to right: Anna Canton, Human Resource Manager, Kristina Hlebo, Finance Assistant, Carl Meier, executive vice president, Dr. Albert Arteaga CEO, Alexandra Acosta, Director of Finance and Lizette Noriega, Human Resource Assistant, Kristina Hlebo, Finance Assistant, Alexandra Acosta, Director of Finance and Lizette Noriega, Human Resource Assistant.
(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) In June of 1984, a young doctor and his wife, a nurse, opened a family medical practice called LaSalle Medical Associates in Fontana. Their goal: provide affordable health care, with dignity and respect, to all in the Inland Empire at http://knockyourhealth.com/wbv/.
Three decades later, Dr. Albert and Maria Arteaga have gone far beyond making their goal a reality. They are now recognized as one of the leading health care providers in the Inland Empire, if not all of California.
“We have had some markers of success,” Dr. Arteaga says. “We went from two employees – my wife and I – to a fully staffed clinic. We opened more clinics. Then we started our own IPA (independent practice association) to keep up with new demands to make health care more and more efficient. We are making people healthier.”
“It has always been our goal to treat as many patients as we could while giving them the best health care possible,” he said.
Some, who have recognized LaSalle Medical Associates as a leader in health care along with www.motorcyclepundit.com , by giving them awards for their endeavors, include:
The federal Center for Disease Control, which recognized Dr. Arteaga as California’s first Childhood Immunization Champion. This award recognized his efforts in educating the parents of LaSalle’s pediatric patients, and the greater Inland Empire community, of the importance of childhood immunizations
The California Medical Association, which recognized Dr. Arteaga with its Ethnic Physician’s Leadership Award, recognizing his contributions to improving health care in the Latino community
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Resolution Award for outstanding community efforts
The San Bernardino County Medical Society’s Merlin Hendrickson, M.D. Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community. Dr. Arteaga was recognized for his efforts to provide health services to Inland Empire children.
Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), as Riverside and San Bernardino counties’ best health care provider, and for being one of the top enrollers in all of California in the state’s former Healthy Families program
The African American Health Initiative as a model provider in a two-year study of Black health care in San Bernardino County.
Hispanic Lifestyle Magazine, which recognized LaSalle Medical Associates as one of the top 15 Latino-owned businesses in the Inland Empire
“As pediatricians, we strive for 100 percent immunizations of pediatric patients and, while that’s probably a utopian objective, our goal is to get as close as to that 100 percent as we can,’’ says Dr. Albert Arteaga, president and founder of LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. . “This CDC recognition is the fruit of two to three years of intense labor on part of me and staff.”
Despite all this success, it hasn’t always been an easy path for the Arteagas.
“Life doesn’t always play out as you expect,” Dr. Arteaga said. “That is certainly true in my life as a health care provider. Good intentions require good management. Providing good management has been every bit as challenging as my years in medical school were more than three decades ago!”
One of the biggest changes in health care took place just this year. In 2014, Covered California part of the federal Affordable Health Care Act – which Dr. Arteaga has long been a champion of – came into being.
“Although Covered California does not yet mean everyone has insurance, it does mean that many patients who couldn’t afford health care before now can do so,” Dr. Arteaga said. “Health care is no longer an out-of-reach luxury for those who couldn’t afford insurance, but is a basic right for everyone
Dr. Arteaga has always thought that health care is a basic right, and has operated LaSalle Medical Associates as if that were the case.
Dr. Arteaga targeted his marketing to Latinos and low-income people who were underserved. Providing high quality medical services to underserved populations were crucial to the success of LaSalle Medical Associates. LaSalle Medical Associates later expanded from Fontana to San Bernardino and Hesperia. These communities have many low-income people in need of quality affordable medical services.
He also is Latino, so he easily related to his Latino patients in ways they appreciated. They told friends and family about La Salle Medical Associates, which caused his popularity in the Inland Empire’s Latino culture to swell.
Dr. Arteaga has always believed that his key to business success was finding a way to get paid for their services, instead of telling patients they had to figure that out on their own before seeing him. For most of LaSalle’s history, that business model meant LaSalle employees educated patients about their health care insurance options.
Most patients LaSalle saw over the years qualified for either Medi-Cal or Healthy Families. The latter, which like Medi-Cal was run by the state of California, offered low to moderate-income parents who didn’t qualify for Medi-Cal a subsidy for the health care of their children from birth to age 19.
Things have changed in the last two years. In 2013, California got a head start on the Affordable Care Act; they created Covered California and merged Healthy Families and Medi-Cal together.
In 2014, one of the key Covered California’s requirements is everyone must have health insurance or pay a penalty. This means, many patients applied and signed up for Covered California, Medi-Cal or other insurance first, and then choose or are assigned to LaSalle Medical Associates.
Consequently, rather than informing new patients of their insurance options, LaSalle Medical Associates employees now more likely are helping the patients understand how their health insurance system works.
Dr. Arteaga acknowledges the Covered California has brought changes some people will take a while to get accustomed to. One of these is a concept called managed care.
“The structure of the Covered California means many people, both those who had some other type of insurance and those who were uninsured, are now in managed care for the first time,” he said.
Managed care is called this because it requires a doctor, such as one of the physicians in LaSalle Medical Associates, to coordinate patients’ health care services. These primary care doctors have a general, family or pediatric practice, and will treat patients for many of their symptoms, but will refer the patients to specialists when more expertise is needed.
Managed care has been around since the 1990s, Dr. Arteaga said, but it has become more popular. It’s usually more cost-efficient to have managed care, he explained, people choose to buy managed care for its lower premiums.
Medi-Cal has used managed care for nearly two decades. Meanwhile, LaSalle Medical Associates, since the beginning, has accepted Medi-Cal when many doctors would not, and now has a reputation among those familiar with Medi-Cal for providing quality services, no matter how payment is provided.
Even though there wasn’t “managed care,” as it now known when Dr. Arteaga started his practice, even back then he was in favor of patients developing close relationships with one family doctor.
“Thirty years ago I wanted to see all the patients, and manage their health care. That has not changed, but I have learned that in order to do so, a physician must take a leadership role. Otherwise, many patients will seek or demand services that are redundant or not needed. Our goal is to make people healthier.”
Maria and Dr. Albert Arteaga. The California Medical Association awarded Abert Arteaga the “Ethnic Physician’s Leadership Award,” recognizing his contributions to medical care in the Latino community.
Dr. Arteaga sees the physician as an advocate for the patient, one who will make sure patients get the services they truly need. Sometimes, just as some patients will push for more health care than is necessary, some insurance companies will resist paying for what a doctor recommends, but that is not the intent of managed care.
“I want the patient, the doctor and the insurance company to develop a positive team, Dr. Arteaga said. “There may be opposition, but that should not stop any of us in trying to make quality health care succeed.”
Besides managed care and its great expansion through the Affordable Care Act, another large change in the health care industry over the last three decades has been more careful monitoring of expenses by insurance companies.
Now, it is better for a medical group like LaSalle Medical Associates to band with even more doctors, so they can take advantage of economies of scale, and provide health care more cost-efficiently.
This is why LaSalle Medical Associates formed an Independent Practice Association (IPA) in 1995, and has grown it to the point it now serves more than 600 medical clinics serving more than 170,000 patients each year in nine California counties.
LaSalle oversees administrative functions of all these medical clinics, although they are owned and manage their patients’ health care separately.
Another move to make health care more efficient, in many ways, is one that LaSalle Medical Associates only recently transitioned to. It now is keeping track of patients’ charts with electronic records, ridding itself of the wall full of patients’ medical records that once were a hallmark of many medical clinics.
“Electronic records make it easier to share patients’ records among a team of doctors who treat one patient, which results in better health care” Dr. Arteaga said. “It is also easier to keep patients’ records confidential this way.”
One other significant change over the last 30 years has been that most patients are more involved in their health care now than they were in 1984.
“They ask more questions now. Because of the Internet, and because people talk more about health care with their friends, patients now have more information. Not all of the information out there is correct, so this means a doctor helps the patient sort the good from the bad, and develop a treatment plan that works. This is another reason why the managed care approach is necessary.”
One thing Dr. Arteaga has learned during his three decades of medical practice is that change can be good. In fact, one thing he loves about being the CEO of LaSalle Medical Associates is that he gets to lead other health care professionals through the changes their industry faces.
“I love being collegial, and helping other doctors learn,” he said. “When they resist change, it is going to be more difficult for them. They should not expect to practice medicine as it was done 30 years ago, or even 10 years ago.”
LaSalle’s clinics are located at 17577 Arrow Blvd. in Fontana phone (909) 823-4454, 16455 Main St. in Hesperia phone (760) 947-2161, and 1505 West 17th St. phone (760) 947-2161 and 565 N. Mt. Vernon Ave. phone (909) 884-9091 in San Bernardino.
For more information about LaSalle Medical Associates, call (909) 890-0407 or go on line to LaSalleMedical.com.
About LaSalle Medical Associates
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc., operates four clinics employing more than 120 dedicated healthcare professionals, treating children, adults, and seniors in San Bernardino County. LaSalle’s patients are primarily served by Medi-Cal and they also accept IEHP, Molina, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Care 1st, and Health Net and Medicare by Easy Choice Health Plan, Molina and Care1st Health Plans.
LaSalle’s clinics are located at 17577 Arrow Blvd. in Fontana phone (909) 823-4454, 16455 Main St. in Hesperia phone (760) 947-2161, and 1505 West 17th St. phone (760) 947-2161 and 565 N. Mt. Vernon Ave. phone (909) 884-9091 in San Bernardino.
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc., is also an Independent Practice Association (IPA) of independently contracted doctors, hospitals and clinics, delivering high quality patience care with more than 170,000 patient visits per year in Fresno, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Joaquin and Tulare Counties.
LaSalle’s IPA members in the Inland Empire include: LaSalle Medical Associates, Banning Medical Group and San Bernardino Urological Associates. Hospital affiliations include: Rancho Springs Medical Center, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Community Hospital of San Bernardino, St. Bernadine Medical Center, Mountains Community Hospital, Redland Community Hospital, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Corona Regional Medical Center, Riverside County Medical Center, Parkview Community Hospital, Kaiser Moreno Valley, Kaiser Fontana and Kaiser Riverside.
LaSalle Medical Associates cure for Plantar Fasciitis , Inc Celebrates 30 years of medical service with the corporate management team. Left to right: Anna Canton, Human Resource Manager; Kristina Hlebo, Finance Assistant,;Carl Meier, executive vice president; Dr. Albert Arteaga CEO; Alexandra Acosta, Director of Finance and Lizette Noriega, Human Resource Assistant. Alexandra Acosta, Director of Finance and Lizette Noriega, Human Resource Assistant
(SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.) In June of 1984, a young doctor and his wife, a nurse, opened a family medical practice called LaSalle Medical Associates in Fontana. Their goal: provide affordable health care, with dignity and respect, to all in the Inland Empire.
Three decades later, Dr. Albert and Maria Arteaga have gone far beyond making their goal a reality. They are now recognized as one of the leading health care providers in the Inland Empire, if not all of California.
“We have had some markers of success,” Dr. Arteaga says. “We went from two employees – my wife and I – to a fully staffed clinic. We opened more clinics. Then we started our own IPA (independent practice association) to keep up with new demands to make health care more and more efficient.”
“It has always been our goal to treat as many patients as we could while giving them the best health care possible,” he said.
Some, who have recognized LaSalle Medical Associates as a leader in health care, by giving them awards for their endeavors, include:
The federal Center for Disease Control, which recognized Dr. Arteaga as California’s first Childhood Immunization Champion. This award recognized his efforts in educating the parents of LaSalle’s pediatric patients, and the greater Inland Empire community, of the importance of childhood immunizations
The California Medical Association, which recognized Dr. Arteaga with its Ethnic Physician’s Leadership Award, recognizing his contributions to improving health care in the Latino community
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Resolution Award for outstanding community efforts
The San Bernardino County Medical Society’s Merlin Hendrickson, M.D. Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community. Dr. Arteaga was recognized for his efforts to provide health services to Inland Empire children.
Maria and Dr. Albert Arteaga. The California Medical Association awarded Abert Arteaga the “Ethnic Physician’s Leadership Award,” recognizing his contributions to medical care in the Latino community.
Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), as Riverside and San Bernardino counties’ best health care provider, and for being one of the top enrollers in all of California in the state’s former Healthy Families program
The African American Health Initiative as a model provider in a two-year study of Black health care in San Bernardino County.
Hispanic Lifestyle Magazine, which recognized LaSalle Medical Associates as one of the top 15 Latino-owned businesses in the Inland Empire
Despite all this success, it hasn’t always been an easy path for the Arteagas.
“Life doesn’t always play out as you expect,” Dr. Arteaga said. “That is certainly true in my life as a health care provider. Good intentions require good management. Providing good management has been every bit as challenging as my years in medical school were more than three decades ago!”
One of the biggest changes in health care took place just this year. In 2014, Covered California part of the federal Affordable Health Care Act – which Dr. Arteaga has long been a champion of – came into being.
“Although Covered California does not yet mean everyone has insurance, it does mean that many patients who couldn’t afford health care before now can do so,” Dr. Arteaga said. “Health care is no longer an out-of-reach luxury for those who couldn’t afford insurance, but is a basic right for everyone
Dr. Arteaga has always thought that health care is a basic right, and has operated LaSalle Medical Associates as if that were the case.
Dr. Arteaga targeted his marketing to Latinos and low-income people who were underserved. Providing high quality medical services to underserved populations were crucial to the success of LaSalle Medical Associates. They later expanded from Fontana to San Bernardino and Hesperia. These communities have many low-income people in need of quality affordable medical services.
He also is Latino, so he easily related to his Latino patients in ways they appreciated. They told friends and family about LaSalle Medical Associates, which caused his popularity in the Inland Empire’s Latino culture to swell.
RN Maria and Dr. Albert Arteaga partners in healthcare and family Ce;berate 30 years of Making People Healthier in California.
Dr. Arteaga has always believed that his key to business success was finding a way to get paid for their services, instead of telling patients they had to figure that out on their own before seeing him. For most of LaSalle’s history, that business model meant LaSalle employees educated patients about their health care insurance options.
Most patients LaSalle saw over the years qualified for either Medi-Cal or Healthy Families. The latter, which like Medi-Cal was run by the state of California, offered low to moderate-income parents who didn’t qualify for Medi-Cal a subsidy for the health care of their children from birth to age 19.
Many uninsured families with children under 19 can get help through the Healthy Families program; help is also available to some children and adults through Medi-Cal. For those who don’t qualify for these programs, the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010 provides additional options. Photo by: Albert Ateaga
Things have changed in the last two years. In 2013, California got a head start on the Affordable Care Act; they created Covered California and merged Healthy Families and Medi-Cal together.
In 2014, one of the key Covered California’s requirements is everyone must have health insurance or pay a penalty. This means, many patients applied and signed up for Covered California, Medi-Cal or other insurance first, and then choose or are assigned to LaSalle Medical Associates.
Consequently, rather than informing new patients of their insurance options, LaSalle Medical Associates employees now more likely are helping the patients understand how their health insurance system works.
Dr. Arteaga acknowledges the Covered California has brought changes some people will take a while to get accustomed to. One of these is a concept called managed care.
“The structure of the Covered California means many people, both those who had some other type of insurance and those who were uninsured, are now in managed care for the first time,” he said. Managed care is called this because it requires a doctor, such as one of the physicians in LaSalle Medical Associates, to coordinate patients’ health care services. These primary care doctors have a general, family or pediatric practice, and will treat patients for many of their symptoms, but will refer the patients to specialists when more expertise is needed.
Managed care has been around since the 1990s, Dr. Arteaga said, but it has become more popular. It’s usually more cost-efficient to have managed care, he explained, people choose to buy managed care for its lower premiums.
Medi-Cal has used managed care for nearly two decades. Meanwhile, LaSalle Medical Associates, since the beginning, has accepted Medi-Cal when many doctors would not, and now has a reputation among those familiar with Medi-Cal for providing quality services, no matter how payment is provided.
Even though there wasn’t “managed care,” as it now known when Dr. Arteaga started his practice, even back then he was in favor of patients developing close relationships with one family doctor.
“Thirty years ago I wanted to see all the patients, and manage their health care. That has not changed, but I have learned that in order to do so, a physician must take a leadership role. Otherwise, many patients will seek or demand services that are redundant or not needed.”
Dr. Arteaga sees the physician as an advocate for the patient, one who will make sure patients get the services they truly need. Sometimes, just as some patients will push for more health care than is necessary, some insurance companies will resist paying for what a doctor recommends, but that is not the intent of managed care.
“I want the patient, the doctor and the insurance company to develop a positive team, Dr. Arteaga said. “There may be opposition, but that should not stop any of us in trying to make quality health care succeed.”
Besides managed care and its great expansion through the Affordable Care Act, another large change in the health care industry over the last three decades has been more careful monitoring of expenses by insurance companies.
Now, it is better for a medical group like LaSalle Medical Associates to band with even more doctors, so they can take advantage of economies of scale, and provide health care more cost-efficiently.
This is why LaSalle Medical Associates formed an Independent Practice Association (IPA) in 1995, and has grown it to the point it now serves more than 600 medical clinics serving more than 170,000 patients each year in nine California counties.
LaSalle oversees administrative functions of all these medical clinics, although they are owned and manage their patients’ health care separately.
Another move to make health care more efficient, in many ways, is one that LaSalle Medical Associates only recently transitioned to. It now is keeping track of patients’ charts with electronic medical records, ridding itself of the wall full of patients’ medical records that once were a hallmark of many medical clinics.
“Electronic medical records make it easier to share patients’ records among a team of doctors who treat one patient, which results in better health care” Dr. Arteaga said. “It is also easier to keep patients’ records confidential this way.”
One other significant change over the last 30 years has been that most patients are more involved in their health care now than they were in 1984.
“They ask more questions now. Because of the Internet, and because people talk more about health care with their friends, patients now have more information. Not all of the information out there is correct, so this means a doctor helps the patient sort the good from the bad, and develop a treatment plan that works. This is another reason why the managed care approach is necessary.”
“As pediatricians, we strive for 100 percent immunizations of pediatric patients and, while that’s probably a utopian objective, our goal is to get as close as to that 100 percent as we can,’’ says Dr. Albert Arteaga, president and founder of LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. . “This CDC recognition is the fruit of two to three years of intense labor on part of me and staff.”
One thing Dr. Arteaga has learned during his three decades of medical practice is that change can be good. In fact, one thing he loves about being the CEO of LaSalle Medical Associates is that he gets to lead other health care professionals through the changes their industry faces.
“I love being collegial, and helping other doctors learn,” he said. “When they resist change, it is going to be more difficult for them. They should not expect to practice medicine as it was done 30 years ago, or even 10 years ago.”
On the first day, owner Dr. Albert Arteaga and his wife Maria then employed as his nurse and still his chief assistant saw two patients at their clinic in Fontana. Today, LaSalle Medical Associates has grown to four clinics and 120 employees, and an Independent Practice Association (IPA) serving more than 1,900 doctors.
In the end is true LaSalle Medical Associates has spent Three Decades Making People Healthier.
For more information about LaSalle Medical Associates, call (909) 890-0407 or go on line to LaSalleMedical.com.
About LaSalle Medical Associates
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc., operates four clinics employing more than 120 dedicated healthcare professionals, treating children, adults, and seniors in San Bernardino County. LaSalle’s patients are primarily served by Medi-Cal and they also accept IEHP, Molina, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Care 1st, and Health Net and Medicare by Easy Choice Health Plan, Molina and Care1st Health Plans. LaSalle’s clinics are located at 17577 Arrow Blvd. in Fontana, 16455 Main St. in Hesperia and1505 West 17th St. and 565 N. Mt. Vernon Ave. in San Bernardino.
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc., is also an Independent Practice Association (IPA) of independently contracted doctors, hospitals and clinics, delivering high quality patience care with more than 170,000 patient visits per year in Fresno, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Joaquin and Tulare Counties.
LaSalle’s IPA members in the Inland Empire include: LaSalle Medical Associates, Banning Medical Group and San Bernardino Urological Associates. Hospital affiliations include: Rancho Springs Medical Center, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Community Hospital of San Bernardino, St. Bernadine Medical Center, Mountains Community Hospital, Redland Community Hospital, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Corona Regional Medical Center, Riverside County Medical Center, Parkview Community Hospital, Kaiser Moreno Valley, Kaiser Fontana and Kaiser Riverside.
