Long-time California Medical Association (CMA) member and leader, Hector Flores, M.D., has been named the 2017 recipient of the Robert D. Sparks, M.D. Leadership Achievement Award by CMA Foundation and its Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations (NEPO).

The award is given annually to an individual or organization that has demonstrated extraordinary interest in and efforts to improve community health, consistent with the mission of the CMA Foundation—to champion improved individual and community health through a partnership of leaders in medicine, related health professions and the community.

Dr. Flores’s career has been dedicated to increasing access to quality health care for underserved and consistently vulnerable populations. He is well known and highly regarded for making sure that the needs of underserved communities—communities that don’t always have a voice—are well represented at the table of health care decisions.

He has been a member of CMA and the Los Angeles County Medical Association (LACMA) since 1993.

“The personal and professional goals that attracted me to a career in medicine are the ideals of LACMA, CMA, and the CMA Foundation: putting patients first and adhering to the humanistic principles of service, caring, and advocacy for even the most disenfranchised populations,” said Dr. Flores. “Whether it’s protecting patients through support of the Patient’s Bill of Rights, or listening to the voices of ethnic minority physicians through NEPO, and supporting the practices of inner-city physicians by making liability insurance affordable through MICRA, LACMA and CMA stand side-by-side with California’s physicians – and it is only right that we support them with our active membership.”

As a leader, Dr. Flores understands the importance of working with elected officials and bringing important issues to their attention from the physician’s perspective. He also advises reaching out to career people within the relevant health care agencies to start a conversation. Dr. Flores is well aware that these are the people who carry out the policies and regulations politicians vote into law. Their influence can be considerable and their experience invaluable in navigating the system.

Dr. Flores is a founding member and co-director of the White Memorial Medical Center (WMMC) Family Medicine Residency Program in Los Angeles. The residency program was established in 1988 with the expressed purpose of providing a high-quality education to prepare physicians for practice in shortage areas and to contribute to diversity in the health professions. This mission continues to be of great importance in Los Angeles due to ongoing physician shortages.

He is also the medical director of the Family Care Specialists (FCS) Medical Group and FCS IPA, which collectively serves approximately 30,000 beneficiaries with Medi-Cal, Medicare and commercial coverage. Eight percent of their patient population is uninsured. The FCS Medical Group is dedicated to improving the health status of its patients, their families, and the entire community utilizing culturally and linguistically competent services and by the deployment of performance standards that reduce or eliminate health disparities.

Of his involvement and leadership with organized medicine at the county and state level, Dr. Flores said:

“Since 1993 I have belonged to LACMA and CMA because they are the only voice for practicing physicians, regardless of specialty, in our state and they are one of the most influential, county and state medical societies in our great nation.”

The award will be presented at the CMA Foundation’s President’s Reception and Awards Gala on October 21, 2017, in Anaheim.