Press Releases: Northwest
July 21, 2003
Latinos at Kaiser Permanente form staff association
PORTLAND, Ore. – Latinos who work at Kaiser Permanente in Oregon and Southwest Washington recently formed a staff association modeled on one representing Kaiser Permanente’s Latino staff in California.
Albert Almeida and Flor Martinez, co-chairs of the new staff association
Albert Almeida and Flor Martinez are co-chairs of the association. Hope Flores is secretary for the association. Hope, who is of Mexican and Spanish descent, is a third-generation Texan on her father’s side of the family. Ilene Gilbert, who is manager for neuromusculoskeletal services, serves as the representative from the Regional Diversity Committee.
Co-chair Martinez was born and raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She came to the U.S. to study industrial engineering in Virginia, married, and followed her husband to Oregon. Now a resident of northeast Portland, she has been with Kaiser Permanente about two and a half years working as a senior business analyst.
“We formed the association with three main purposes in mind,” says Martinez. “We wanted to promote awareness of the diversity within Kaiser Permanente and recognition of the contributions Latinos are making to its success; to improve recruitment, hiring, training and professional development of Latinos here; and to reach out to the communities Kaiser Permanente serves.”
All four of Co-chair Almeida’s grandparents left Mexico for the United States in the early 1900s, settling in southern California. His American-born parents spoke Spanish to each other and with their 22 brothers and sisters. But the couple wanted their three sons to speak English at home, so Almeida grew up speaking English. He left his native Los Angeles to come to work for Kaiser Permanente in Oregon 13 years ago, and is now a project manager in Portland for Kaiser Permanente’s Intranet Web site.
“One of the things I miss about Los Angeles, besides my family, is the presence of a large Latino culture,” says Almeida, who lives in Lake Oswego. “Forming a Latino Association seemed like a good way to connect to the Latino community inside and outside of Kaiser Permanente.”
Almeida notes that the Latino presence in Oregon is growing. As Latinos enter the workforce here in growing numbers, their presence is also increasing within Kaiser Permanente, he observes. Getting those employees to participate in a single staff association is challenging because of the many cultural differences within the Latino community.
“After all, Latinos can be immigrants or U.S.-born. They can be bilingual or fluent only in Spanish or English, and they can come from any number of cultures within Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean or South America.”
Martinez says 20 individuals have already signed up with the Kaiser Permanente Latino Association during its first month. Many more may be waiting for the association to schedule activities before becoming involved. She says one activity to build membership that the association is considering is to hold an international Coffee Day, where staff can sample the many flavors from coffee beans grown in a variety of Latin American countries.
“Other ideas include sponsorships for Latinos to enter health care professions.”
Kaiser Permanente is a group practice health care organization serving the health care needs of about 440,000 people in Oregon and Southwest Washington, including the dental care needs of about 175,000 people.
