When a woman’s health care needs are put first, there’s nothing she can’t do. Coachella resident Maria knows this firsthand.

Maria (who asked us to remove her last name for privacy reasons), 32, has experienced homelessness, food scarcity, violence and sexual abuse at the hands of a family member until she was 18. During that time, she didn’t receive the proper medical attention she needed, particularly for her mental health needs, and she contemplated suicide many times. Years later, whenever she did go to a doctor — especially during her pregnancies — she did not feel welcomed, and did not feel that she was treated with the best care.

It wasn’t until she was enrolled in the Enhanced Care Management program through Borrego Health (before the merger with DAP Health) that things started to change for Maria. Though hesitant to trust at first, she slowly started opening up and engaging in the program, which is available to those with certain health conditions, experiencing homelessness and other criteria.

Maria is now one of many women who share their stories through DAP Health’s Women of Impact, a new initiative that aims to address the systematic barriers to health care access that women face, especially those in underserved areas.

Following DAP Health’s acquisition of Borrego Health last year, which included taking on 18 medical clinics throughout Riverside and San Diego counties and thousands of patients, the Palm Springs-based health care provider now serves more than 60,000 women and children.

Women’s health care services were always available at DAP Health, but once it expanded and had so many more resources under its belt, the organization wanted to address gaps and bring “our knowledge of what we did for the HIV/AIDS population to the women’s health care crisis,” Women of Impact co-chair Eve Fromberg-Edelstein, Esq., said.

“Women’s health care gaps exist in a lot of medical systems across this country, if not the world, as evidenced by fetal mortality rates, lack of screenings and overall health outcomes for women, (which are) worse for women of color,” Fromberg-Edelstein said. “We’re trying to address those barriers to health care for women and recognize that DAP Health is a specialist in bringing quality health care to stigmatized groups.”

Read more:Sale of Borrego Health clinics to DAP Health finalized: What patients need to know

Goals of the DAP Health Women of Impact initiative

Through Women of Impact, DAP Health is focusing on filling the health gaps that currently exist among its clinics.

The first is an expansion of facilities, beginning with the Palm Springs Family Health clinic, located at 1100 N. Palm Canyon Drive. The space currently serves around 30 women a day, mainly those who are pregnant, said Fromberg-Edelstein.

However, the need for gynecological services is there, she said, including regular checks-ups, pap smears, mammogram screenings and STI testing. The expansion would take the center from about 1,500 square feet to nearly 4,500 square feet, as well as increase the number of OBGYNs, perinatal health workers and medical assistants. With more space, treatment rooms and physicians available, the daily patient capacity is projected to increase to 90 women.

Providing expanded pediatric services is vital as well. More often than not, women, especially mothers, put others’ health care needs ahead of their own, said Women of Impact co-chair Karyl Ketchum, Ph.D. By providing pediatric services in the same space where a woman can get checked up, “that’s when you nab them.”

Chris Boone, DAP Health’s chief development officer, said the expected expansion costs are around $1.5 million.

DAP Health is also considering a focus on fourth-trimester care, which refers to the first 12 weeks postpartum that is associated with a number of physical and emotional changes for both the mother and baby. Mental health, in particular, is a serious concern during this period. About 13% of postpartum women experience a mental health issue, primarily depression, according to the World Health Organization. Additionally, studies have shown that death by suicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality and accounts for about 20% of postpartum deaths.

Despite this knowledge, Fromberg-Edelstein said there’s a lack of support for new mothers in areas such as mental health, postpartum evaluations and nutrition and lactation services. One of Women of Impact’s goals is to hire specialized personnel and clinical staff, such as a lactation consultant and social worker, who can better address these needs and provide appropriate services to those who need it most.

Fromberg-Edelstein said other goals down the line may include building a program for menopausal care and aging women.

Women of Impact is also focused on addressing “the whole person,” Fromberg-Edelstein said. Providers are checking in with their patients and asking if they need food, clothing or other needs in order to provide for themselves and their loved ones.

“Everyone deserves good, competent, full-service health care that deals with their whole lives,” she said. “If we don’t build the whole person, we can’t really improve their health outcomes.”

Giving back to the DAP Health clinic that ‘saved’ her

Whole-person care quite literally saved Maria’s life.

Nearly two years ago, Maria received a call from Veronica Vaca, a community health worker with then-Borrego Health, regarding the Enhanced Care Management program (available at DAP Health today). Patients are enrolled for two years, and they are connected to a care team, who help them develop a personalized care plan, connect to food assistance or other social services and more.

“I didn’t trust it, I didn’t even know about the program,” Maria said regarding that initial phone call.

She had good reason to be hesitant. She explained that an obstetrician was very rough with her during her first pregnancy, and the doctor wore a big ring on her hand that made vaginal examinations very painful. Shortly after giving birth a second time, a doctor “left me open with gauze inside, and all the nurses were surprised that he did that just to go to another patient,” she said.

A week later, she had to go to the emergency room and receive a dilation and curettage, a procedure that removes tissue from the uterus. At a different appointment, she received test results that indicated the possibility of cervical cancer, but Maria said she never received proper care or medication.

She also struggled mentally throughout her life, but it wasn’t something she could talk about with her family. Mental health is often viewed as a taboo subject in Mexican culture, she said, and if she were to open up to them, “they’d probably just call me crazy.” She added that she experienced postpartum depression after childbirth, but did not seek help because of her previous bad medical experiences.

After speaking with Vaca, Maria decided to take a leap of faith and enroll in the program. Looking back on that decision now, she’s “so happy” she did.

As part of the program, the two women started talking on the phone every two weeks to catch up and see what Maria needed, Vaca explained.

“It’s just like chipping at a rock. I gradually got her to come in and really work with her,” Vaca said. “I gradually got her to doctors offices. She gradually was able to see physicians. Finally, little by little, she was able to trust again.”

She was connected to a psychiatrist, OBGYN, primary care physician and hematologist, who have guided her on her medical journey, especially after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. It hasn’t always been perfect, she admits, but the care she’s received has brought her into “a more positive mindset, that I can do something, that I can help myself slowly.”

Mainly, she credits Vaca for her success.

“Before, I didn’t feel like I had a purpose, and if it wasn’t for Veronica, I’d probably be dead,” Maria said.

In October 2023, Maria was asked to share her story during Women of Impact’s informational tours at Centro Medico Cathedral City, one of the main clinics that treat women and children. She said those moments “gave me more courage” to open up and face her past.

She graduated from the Enhanced Care Management program earlier this year. Due to her past educational and work experience, plus her life experiences, she was offered an opportunity to become a community health worker — a health care employee who is a member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community they’re serving — at DAP Health.

“When I get to speak to my patients, they’re very thankful. They’ve told me, ‘Thank god that they sent someone like you,'” Maria said. “Every time I hear that, it makes me proud.”

The team behind Women of Impact hopes that more stories such as Maria’s emerge over time.

“Her story is so full circle of what the possibility is for a woman when you secure her health care, her mental health care, the services around her being a mother, her educational opportunities, her job skills and what she can become given the support and stabilization of her life. Maria is now even able to advocate to the community, ‘Do this for other women what was done for me,'” Fromberg-Edelstein said. “She’s the dream.”

Tours of Centro Medico Cathedral City and of Palm Springs Family Health are available to community members wanting to learn more about Women of Impact. Visit www.daphealth.org/womenofimpact for more information.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.