Hundreds of doctors from New York gathered for an important meeting in Rome. This was not a typical medical congress. These providers care for patients with limited resources. Many of whom are immigrants who feel lost in their new country.
The meeting was organized by the group “SOMOS.” The goal is sharing good practices in caring for these people.
RAMON TALLAJ
Chairman of the Board, SOMOS Community Care
Many changes are made based on statistics alone, while the patient is forgotten. There are some things that must be done with the patient’s well-being in mind. The patient’s quality of life, his health, and his happiness must be taken into consideration.
HENRY CHEN
President of SOMOS Community Care
The mission for this conference is we all get together, particular for the primary care, to spread out, to give them their voice, and we see the policymaker here, we talk to those partners, the hospitals, we share our will and our experience with the patient, we want them to provide support for us to provide better care for our patients.
SOMOS Community Care is a network of 2,500 providers that treats one million patients in New York’s poorest neighborhoods.
LIDIA VIRGIL
General Manager of SOMOS Community Care
“In a healthcare system where a financially limited patient receives low-quality care, it is common for the patient to receive rushed and superficial medical attention. The doctor may treat him out of obligation only, but dedicate very little time to him. New measures are being implemented to improve the quality of healthcare, like initiatives for healthy patients.
MARIO PAREDES
CEO of SOMOS Community Care
“Many of the doctors are immigrants who earned their degrees in their native countries. They later moved to the United States and obtained permission to practice there.”
The goal is to have medical providers who speak the same language as the patients. One of the doctors is Jean Robert Macenat. He was born in Haiti and now lives in New York.
JEAN ROBERT MACENAT
Medical Internist
It's important to me to be a doctor because I can make a difference. When I see people suffering, and when I bring help, you bring medicines and you bring some joy and treatment to special life you can make. That's the big difference for that patient and for myself.
STEVEN ROSENTHAL
General Manager of The Care Management
Dr. Tallaj and his physicians are the doctors on the frontline,. There the doctors and patients seen everyday deal with all of their life and personal issues as well as their health issues. As a result, our relationship becomes interwoven, very tied together in the community.
KAREN IGNAGNI
CEO, EmblemHealth
“It's crucial from the prospective of the patient to be treated and be guided through a complicated healthcare delivery system by people who understand them and that is very important.”
TIMOTHY NOLAN
EVP, EmblemHealth
We are extremely supportive of Dr. Tallajs efforts in terms of transforming not only the healthcare system in the State of New York, but also, the impact, the potential impact in the entire United States.
Their presence in Rome draws attention to the difficult situation of millions of immigrants. On top of the challenges that come from simplybeing a foreigner in a new land, they also face health problems.
The conference in Rome included a meeting with the pope. The attendees want to express their gratitude for the pope’s messages encouraging respect toward immigrants. They would like to show him that doctors know no bounds.
