We Take our Patients However they Come, Late or on Time
Healthcare treatment to minorities in San Bernardino County, the African American Health Initiative low-income residents of San Bernardino County found one solution – LaSalle Medical Association - Model provider
San Bernardino, CA (PRWEB) June 14, 2005 -- “We are open when our patients
need to see us, early, late and on weekends. We must take our patients however
they come, late, without an appointment or with two or three children when they
made an appointment for one, and of course quality care is a standard I
demand.”
While many look for the solution to deliver quality and equal
healthcare treatment to minorities in San Bernardino County, the African
American Health Initiative and 60,000 low-income residents of San Bernardino
County have already found one solution– LaSalle Medical Association.
The
African American Health Initiative has selected Dr. Albert Arteaga, founder and
owner of La Salle Medical Associates as a model provider. Dr. Arteaga’s recipe
for success is “Availability, Availability, Availability.”
According to
Dr. Arteaga, “We must be open when our patients need to see us, early, late and
on weekends. We must take our patients however they come, late, without an
appointment or with two or three children when they made an appointment for one,
and of course quality care is a given.”
La Salle Medical Associates has
five clinics in San Bernardino County two in San Bernardino, in Hesperia, Lake
Ellsinore and in Fontana most with extended hours.
The Mt. Vernon office in
San Bernardino in open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Thursday and 8:00
am to 4:00 pm on Friday for more information call (909) 884-9091.
The
17th Street office in San Bernardino is open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday
through Thursday and 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on Friday and from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on
Saturday and Sunday. For more information call (909) 887-6494
The Fontana
is open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Thursday and 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
on Friday and from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday. For more
information call (909) 823-4454,
The Hesperia office is open from 8:00
am to 5:00 pm Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday and Thursday from 8;00 am to 7:00
pm and 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on Friday. For more information call (760) 947-2161,
The Lake Ellsinore office is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through
Thursday and 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on Friday for more information call (909)
674-5686. La Salle’s headquarters is in San Bernardino and can be reached at
(909) 890-0407.
“The parents of so many of our patients work so we have
to open when they are available to bring their children,” said
Arteaga.
“When I started my practice 20 years ago other doctor’s told me
I had to train my patients to show up on time by making them reschedule if they
were late and don’t take walk-ins,” said Arteaga.
“But I figured that
the only person I was punishing was the sick child, so I didn’t do that. I took
all patients no matter how they came; now I have five clinics and last year we
had over 110,000 patient visits,” said Arteaga.
“And you know, patients
may be late at first but after a while they come on time. They make appointments
and they bring in their shot records and any medicines received while away and
become model patients. They do this because we were patient with them and we
treated them with respect,” said Arteaga.
Another myth in healthcare is that
you can’t make money seeing Medi-Cal or poor patients. Dr. Arteaga dispels that
fairy tale as virtually all of his patients are low income.
“When you
factor in the reimbursement period for traditional insurance, I make almost as
much money from a Medi-Cal patient’s as from any other insurance,” said Dr.
Arteaga.
Another way Dr. Arteaga profits is to help patients who don’t
have health insurance find and enroll in the program that fits their needs. His
efforts pay off for his patients and his practice.
Dr Arteaga is the
largest enroller of the Healthy Families program in the State of California. He
has enrolled over 20,000 children in the state and federally sponsored health
insurance program for low to moderate-income families.
The La Salle staff
is trained to enroll uninsured patients into one of the many
government-sponsored programs available. If patients do not qualify for any
insurance programs, instead of billing a large fee, then sending the patient to
collections and eventually writing it off when they don’t pay, La Salle charges
the patient $15 dollars. “The way I look at it, that is $15 dollars I would not
have had,” said Arteaga.
As the son of an Adventist minister Dr. Arteaga
is dedicated to deliver the best healthcare possible for his patients. He also
demands his staff from the receptionist to the doctors treat people with the
dignity, compassion and respect we al deserve.
“La Salle Medical
Associates has created a system that delivers quality healthcare for Latinos,
Blacks, Whites and Asians. We are dedicated to deliver quality healthcare to San
Bernardino County residents regardless of ethnicity or income,” said Arteaga.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb251165.htm