About

In her role as President of the AltaMed Foundation and Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer of AltaMed Health Services, Dr. Zoila D. Escobar is dedicated to leveling disparities in health care by combining her own personal insight into the Latino experience with comprehensive care. For more than 40 years, she鈥檚 played an instrumental role in community health leadership, spearheading everything from grassroots initiatives to leading major policy changes at national institutions.

At AltaMed, Dr. Escobar oversees the Development, Corporate Communications, Branding, Strategy Planning and Execution, Strategic Project Management, Facilities and Maintenance, Culture and Linguistics Equity, Human Resources, Government Relations and Civic Engagement. In this multifaceted, 360-degree role, she shapes nearly every dimension of the AltaMed experience, ranging from where people get care, to innovative programs and services for patients, to ensuring that everyone whom AltaMed serves receives patient-centered care in a way that honors their cultural preferences.

A prolific fundraiser, Ms. Escobar has consistently raised $40-46 million annually for AltaMed. She currently oversees AltaMed鈥 s development and fundraising departments, and her fund development experience dates back to 1984 at the American Cancer Society (ACS), as Director of Development for Special Populations. While at ACS, Ms. Escobar also helped develop national policy in the area of uterine and breast cancer screening, smoking cessation, and HIV/AIDS for Spanish-speaking populations. In addition to leading conferences and fundraising GALAS, some of Ms. Escobar鈥檚 most important contributions include helping change attitudes around philanthropic giving in the Latino community, as well as steering an employee-giving effort to engage 100% of the AltaMed workforce.

Dr. Escobar鈥檚 professional accomplishments demonstrate a dedication to ensuring all multi-ethnic communities, predominantly Latino communities, receive equitable access to health services. Her work began in women鈥檚 reproductive health that eventually focused on AIDS awareness and prevention, with positions including Program Director of the first Latinas and AIDS Program in Los Angeles County, with AIDS Project Los Angeles; and Clinic Administrator for HIV Services at the UCLA Family Planning Clinic. She was involved in policy work that led to the development of the Ryan White Act, the most significant federal program. Focused on HIV care and treatment services for low-income people with HIV. The Ryan White Act also played a role in including HIV/AIDS in the Americans with Disabilities Act. In Addition, her passion for AIDS awareness and prevention expanded on a global level when she worked with the World Hemophilia Federation/the World Health Organization to pilot HIV/AIDS prevention for hemophiliacs in Chile. Additionally, she鈥檚 served as Director of Education and Government Affairs for the Arthritis Foundation.

Empowerment is one of the pillars of the AltaMed mission, and it鈥檚 also the focus of Dr. Escobar鈥檚 other professional engagements and memberships. Dr. Escobar actively participates on multiple boards: University of La Verne Board of Trustees, the California Healthcare Foundation board, and the L.A. Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors for nearly 15 years, Dr. Escobar was a member of the International Health Initiative of the Americas.

Zoila鈥檚 Impact can be seen throughout her tenure at AltaMed. For instance, she understands that many of AltaMed patients鈥 first language is not English which means that their level of care could be compromised if they don鈥檛 understand their provider. In addition, Zoila has provided leadership in designing culturally competent programming to meet patients鈥 complex needs, yet without access to proper technology such as WIFI services in each AltaMed Health Center to support video translation services for patients; these programs have a limit with accessibility.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoila was instrumental in helping to mount the AltaMed response by assuring that administrative support and process would be available to assist in the organization鈥檚 required operational shifts that made it possible to respond quickly the spread of the COVID-19 virus. When news of the novel coronavirus emerged, she collaborated with the c-suite and other leaders to ready our staff in rallying in support of the infection control department, who guided AltaMed鈥 s employees on the best ways to protect themselves and their patients. In addition, she recommended help mechanisms to monitor the spending for our COVID activities while fundraising to cover those expenses. She understood that there was a need to change how we engage with our patients. Thus, Zoila helped reorganize our employees and re-deploy them to other clinic, sites, or departments where testing and other COVID services were launched.

Dr. Escobar developed the institutional policies that allowed employees to manage the organization鈥檚 services. In addition, she advocates for resources and other support needed by underserved communities of color as they continue to experience a higher burden of social determinants that lead to higher disease. Under Zoila鈥檚 leadership, the AltaMed Foundation recognized the vulnerability of Latinos, who has no choice but to continue to work and provide the essential services so that the rest of us could shelter in place, do remote work and complain about isolation.

Thinking beyond clinical services, AltaMed responded by partnering with food pantries to provide essential groceries and toiletries to patients who experienced job loss and economic devastation. The AltaMed Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) needed food delivered to them, so our development and PACE operations focused on 鈥渞escue and restoration鈥. 鈥淩escue and Restoration鈥 an attempt to be closer to 鈥渘ormal鈥 when nothing is normal, Dr. Escobar鈥檚 efforts resulted in packaging and delivering food to patients who needed it the most. She understands that healthcare goes beyond the 鈥渇our walls鈥 that stand up our sites, and that health care includes providing people with the basic necessities that are essential to living healthy and stable lives.
Dr. Escobar has a Master鈥檚 degree and a Doctorate from the University of La Verne, where her research focused on barriers to Latino students entering medical school. She and her husband have five children and enjoy their free time with their five grandchildren.

Education
EdD 鈥 Organizational Leadership, University of La Verne
MBA, University of LA Verne
B.S. 鈥 Health Services Administration, University of La Verne