Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Dr Rick Hirsch, Physician and Medical Director with Inland Family Healthcare Centers. Thank you so much for being with us today, Dr. Hirsch.
Dr. Rick Hirsch
Thank you, Yvette. It's great to be here, and thank you for asking me.
Yvette Walker
So Dr. Hirsch, how does Family Medicine work?
Dr. Rick Hirsch
Do you get to see the entire family in a lot of cases? Yes, and that's the real exciting part of it. Also, over time, I get to see them go from teenagers to adults to seniors. And it's quite amazing. Most people come in and they have perhaps one complaint, but sometimes there's five things that are concerning them. And so it makes it challenging. I get to know a little bit about many, many things.
Yvette Walker
What are the more frequently occurring diagnosis or ailments you have seen within the Latino community?
Dr. Rick Hirsch
By far the most important and concerning thing is diabetes - diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, affect the Latino community by far, disproportionately more than other communities. It presents a big challenge. There's a lot of misinformation out there and fear, as well as lack of access to care. And diabetes is a condition not just about your blood sugar being high or low, but diabetes can affect every single system in your entire body, from your skin to your blood vessels. I would say more than 80% of people who I admit to the hospital with a stroke also have diabetes. So they're not individually separable. Diabetes is very prevalent in kidney disease as well, and vice versa. So, kidney disease is a very big, costly, most of the time highly preventable condition that affects the Latino community disproportionately more than others.
Yvette Walker
And so what insight would you be able to give the Latino community in terms of preventative habits and practices that can help steer them away from developing diabetes?
Dr. Rick Hirsch
I would say, developing a close relationship with your family, physician or provider, nurse practitioner in primary care that can help manage those conditions, do additional testings. And if they're becoming more complicated and difficult to manage, they can direct you to a specialist, like a cardiologist, a nephrologist or an endocrinologist, that you can work together as a team to help manage, as well as educating family members too. That's a big one. If more of the family members understand what the person needs to do, they're likely to be supportive and create an environment where everyone's working together as a team to prevent things.
Yvette Walker
What are some of the common challenges and barriers you have seen within the Latino community, and what are some of the things you have done in your own practice to overcome them?
Dr. Rick Hirsch
By far, I think fear. A lot of people don't come to the physician because they know that we're going to find something wrong with them. A lot of people say, ‘Well, you know, I feel fine, so I don't need to do anything’. And sometimes those are the people who come in who have their blood testing done, and then they won't call for an appointment or follow up for another year, or you won't see them at all. And those people sometimes unfortunately end up in the emergency room or admitted to the hospital with a stroke or heart attack. Other barriers are sometimes people work from 9 to 5, and it doesn't fall into the general hours that a physician's office is open. So when it comes between their income and their personal health, especially if they're “feeling fine”, a lot of times they don't get back in to follow up with their physician for chronic conditions that they need to be following up with.
Yvette Walker
You know, another interesting aspect that you included earlier was the fact that you actually travel to location and you meet your patients. Tell us a little bit about that.
Dr. Rick Hirsch
I do. I've been practicing both in the clinic and in the hospitals as well as skilled nursing facilities since I finished training 20 odd years ago, I have the opportunity and the privilege to interact with the specialists who are also co-managing the patients in the hospital. So unfortunately, I have to see some of the end stages of the diseases as well. But I believe that it makes patients feel real good when their primary care doctor, who they've known for years, also comes to visit them in the hospital. I believe that they can address more concerns that they otherwise would not be able to with, for example, specialists that they don't know. Also, in the skilled nursing facilities, when patients are discharged from the hospital for various reasons, if they need to go to a rehabilitation facility, myself and my team also go visit them in most of the local skilled nursing facilities.
Yvette Walker
So how would you like the community to reach out and make an appointment to make sure they're getting the care they need?
Dr. Rick Hirsch
Well, I have two offices currently, one in the city of Upland and one in Rancho Cucamonga. Our office phone number is (909) 920-9100. And if we are not able to see them, we can maybe perhaps direct them to where they can be seen, or help them with a community resource who can.
Yvette Walker
Dr Hirsch, thank you so much for sharing your insight and your perspective and your care for the community.
Dr. Rick Hirsch
Thank you, Yvette, it's a privilege.
Yvette Walker
Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/IELatinoVoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media, and is funded by generous support from San Antonio Regional Hospital. Here for life. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
