A new Dean’s Community Leadership Council will partner with the Keck School of Medicine of USC to explore ways to improve health services that meet the needs of the surrounding community.

“It’s important that we communicate with the community about what we’re doing and hear what the concerns of the community are on an ongoing basis. So we would like to think of this as a forum to talk about health care issues,” said Keck School dean Carmen A. Puliafito on May 27 at the council’s first meeting on the Health Sciences campus.

Puliafito mentioned two important ways in which the Keck School is connected to the community. First, “we provide health care to many tens of thousands of patients in this community,” he said. Second, many staff members, both of the Keck School and of its major teaching hospital, the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, live in the community.

Glenn Ault, associate dean for clinical administration at the LAC+USC Medical Center, briefed the council members about the medical school and its historic relationship with the county hospital, which is the largest provider of health care in Los Angeles County.

He then opened the floor for questions and discussions. “We want to hear from you, what your concerns are and how USC and the Keck School can help you,” Ault said.

The council is expected to meet at least several times a year to address concerns and issues that arise from discussions.

Members of the Dean’s Community Leadership Council are:
Father Greg Boyle, S.J., Homeboy Industries
Lou Calanche, executive director, Legacy L.A.
Jorge C. Corralejo, chairman & CEO, Latino Business Chamber of Greater Los Angeles
J. Lorraine Estradas, chief executive officer, Arroyo Vista Family Health Center; represented at the meeting by Irene Holguin, director of Community Outreach
The Honorable Juan Marcos Guti�rrez Gonz�lez, C�nsul General, represented at the meeting by Al�n S�nchez, health window coordinator
Steve Kasten, president, Lincoln Heights Chamber of Commerce
Alicia Maldonado, president, Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce; president, Mockingbird Communications
Ernest Moreno, president, East Los Angeles College
Cynthia Sanchez, executive director, Proyecto Pastoral
Rudy Torres, chairman & CEO, Greater El Sereno Chamber of Commerce
Carlos Antonio H. Vaquerano, executive director and founder, Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund
Beth D. Zachary, president & CEO, White Memorial Medical Center, represented at the meeting by Roland Fargo, vice president, Business Development
Richard Zaldivar, president and founder, The Wall las Memorias

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