PEOPLE AND PLACES

PEOPLE AND PLACES

Sunday, August 1, 2010

The people's doctor » Naples Daily News

 

 

The people's doctor

Immokalee pediatrician says caring for low-income children is a mission, not a job

The people's doctor » Naples Daily News

The Villarosa Clan in 2007 (The matriarch Josie Villarosa, mother of the Doctor is my first cousin. There are three doctors in this family) The good doctor, my nephew is 4th from the right.

The Villarosas in 2007

Dr. V and his very large family
  • After 9 p.m., Dr. Melanio Villarosa, center, finally sits down with his family for dinner. Dr. V, spends a few hours after work every night, filling out paperwork by hand, because he says he can’t afford the technology to have computer records. He then drives more than an hour home from Immokalee to be with his wife, Maria Teresita, left, his daughter, Angie, 17, right, a Naples High School senior, and Josiah, 13, who attends East Naples Middle school. Dr. V has two other daughters, Danielle, and Melanie, both of whom attend University of South Florida. <br />
  • Dr. Melanio Villarosa keeps the attention of his students in his youth ministry class while he talks to them about reaching heaven inside a classroom at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Immokalee on Wednesday evening. Dr. V works tirelessly to deliver his message about Christ and regularly quotes Luke 12:48 in the Bible when referring to himself, “To whom more is given, more is required.”
  • Dr. Melanio Villarosa arrives late to his youth ministry with pizzas for his students at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Immokalee after working a full day at his practice, Immokalee Pediatrics.
  • Dr. Melanio Villarosa, who is diabetic, injects insulin into his arm after eating dinner with his family. After contracting a rare disease in 1989 while he lived in New York, Dr. V had to have part of his pancreas removed, which led him to develop diabetes.
  •  While he leads his students to a classroom at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Immokalee, Dr. Melanio Villarosa attempts to keep the noise to a minimum as they pass another room holding a Bible study session.
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    • After 9 p.m., Dr. Melanio Villarosa, center, finally sits down with his family for dinner. Dr. V, spends a few hours after work every night, filling out paperwork by hand, because he says he can’t afford the technology to have computer records. He then drives more than an hour home from Immokalee to be with his wife, Maria Teresita, left, his daughter, Angie, 17, right, a Naples High School senior, and Josiah, 13, who attends East Naples Middle school. Dr. V has two other daughters, Danielle, and Melanie, both of whom attend University of South Florida. <br />
    • Dr. Melanio Villarosa keeps the attention of his students in his youth ministry class while he talks to them about reaching heaven inside a classroom at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Immokalee on Wednesday evening. Dr. V works tirelessly to deliver his message about Christ and regularly quotes Luke 12:48 in the Bible when referring to himself, “To whom more is given, more is required.”
    • Dr. Melanio Villarosa arrives late to his youth ministry with pizzas for his students at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Immokalee after working a full day at his practice, Immokalee Pediatrics.
    • Dr. Melanio Villarosa, who is diabetic, injects insulin into his arm after eating dinner with his family. After contracting a rare disease in 1989 while he lived in New York, Dr. V had to have part of his pancreas removed, which led him to develop diabetes.
    •  While he leads his students to a classroom at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Immokalee, Dr. Melanio Villarosa attempts to keep the noise to a minimum as they pass another room holding a Bible study session.
    • Dr. Melanio Villarosa checks the side of a filing cabinet at his office in Immokalee where dozens of index cards, Post-it notes, and scraps of paper give him a quick list of symptoms and diagnosis. Dr. V uses it as his cheat sheet of common sicknesses so he can treat patients quicker. When Dr. V started Immokalee Pediatrics, he advertised for the first year, but now said he has so many patients he has to turn people away.
    • Dr. Melanio Villarosa thanks one of his 80 students, Mary Ann Gamez, 13, for attending his class at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Immokalee after his youth ministry on Wednesday evening. Not only has Dr. V started a youth ministry in Immokalee, he has also restarted the Naples chapter, which meets at his home every other weekend.
    • Nurse Christie Garcia, center, informs Dr. Melanio Villarosa, right, that a patient he saw earlier in the morning had their prescription denied by a local drugstore as another nurse Lisa Gomez works on patient files. Omnicef, a common antibiotic used by Dr. V to treat everything from ear infections to bronchitis, is not always covered by Medicaid. In those cases, Dr. V has to pause his busy day and contact the drug store to figure out a similar product that will be covered.
    • Dr. Melanio Villarosa, center, has Brian Sustaita, 4, right, blow on a piece of paper held by his mother Adriana Gonzalez while brother Brandon, 2, left, looks on as Dr. V checks the child’s lungs at his practice, Immokalee Pediatrics. Dr. V, 51, has been working in Immokalee for more than 18 years, serving the children of the lower income migrant community, who mostly depend on Medicaid. Dr. V tries to develop a friendship with each of his patients, “When you love the people here, they love you back, “ Dr. V said.
    • At the end of another long day, Dr. Melanio Villarosa still finds the time to slow dance with his wife Maria Teresita, in their living room. “We use it as a way to wind down from the day, “ Dr. V said

     

    Awards & Recognition for Dr. Melanio Villarosa

    What are HealthGrades Five-Star and Recognized Doctors?

    HealthGrades Five-Star Doctors Are:
    1. Affiliated with a hospital rated highly by HealthGrades
    2. Board certified in the specialty they practice
    3. Have never had their license restricted/revoked
    4. Free of state or federal disciplinary actions
    5. Free of any malpractice claims
    HealthGrades Recognized Doctors Are:
    1. Board certified in the specialty they practice
    2. Have never had their license restricted/revoked
    3. Free of state or federal disciplinary actions
    4. Free of any malpractice claims

    HealthGrades Recognized Doctor
      Dr. Melanio Villarosa is a HealthGrades Recognized Doctor.

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Dr. Melanio Villarosa, center, has Brian Sustaita, 4, right, blow on a piece of paper held by his mother Adriana Gonzalez while brother Brandon, 2, left, looks on as Dr. V checks the child’s lungs at his practice, Immokalee Pediatrics. Dr. V, 51, has been working in Immokalee for more than 18 years, serving the children of the lower income migrant community, who mostly depend on Medicaid. Dr. V tries to develop a friendship with each of his patients, “When you love the people here, they love you back, “ Dr. V said. Dr. Melanio Villarosa, center, has Brian Sustaita, 4, right, blow on a piece of paper held by his mother Adriana Gonzalez while brother Brandon, 2, left, looks on as Dr. V checks the child’s lungs at his practice, Immokalee Pediatrics. Dr. V, 51, has been working in Immokalee for more than 18 years, serving the children of the lower income migrant community, who mostly depend on Medicaid. Dr. V tries to develop a friendship with each of his patients, “When you love the people here, they love you back, “ Dr. V said.

10 photos


After 9 p.m., Dr. Melanio Villarosa, center, finally sits down with his family for dinner. Dr. V, spends a few hours after work every night, filling out paperwork by hand, because he says he can’t afford the technology to have computer records. He then drives more than an hour home from Immokalee to be with his wife, Maria Teresita, left, his daughter, Angie, 17, right, a Naples High School senior, and Josiah, 13, who attends East Naples Middle school. Dr. V has two other daughters, Danielle, and Melanie, both of whom attend University of South Florida. <br />

After 9 p.m., Dr. Melanio Villarosa, center, finally sits down with his family for dinner. Dr. V, spends a few hours after work every night, filling out paperwork by hand, because he says he can’t afford the technology to have computer records. He then drives more than an hour home from Immokalee to be with his wife, Maria Teresita, left, his daughter, Angie, 17, right, a Naples High School senior, and Josiah, 13, who attends East Naples Middle school. Dr. V has two other daughters, Danielle, and Melanie, both of whom attend University of South


Ancema Uriostegui holds Jesus, 1, on her lap as she waits in a lobby area about the size of a bus. The other eight chairs — worn, green and made of wood — are filled with other parents and children waiting to see Dr. V.

Laughter fills the pediatrician’s colorful office in Kemp Plaza, an Immokalee strip mall adjacent to a discount store, Sunshine Medical and Therapy Center and a Protestant church.

For the past 10 years, Uriostegui, 36, has taken her four children, ages 12, 10, 8 and 1, to pediatrician Melanio Villarosa. She recalls the time he treated her adopted son even though he had no insurance. He didn’t charge them anything.

Villarosa sees 25 patients during the course of a day — all low-income and under the poverty line.

“More than being a good doctor,” says Uriostegui in Spanish, “he has a good heart.”

Perhaps Villarosa’s office is not only a pediatrician office, but also a ministry of sorts.

***

In the hallway, photographs of more than 125 patients and donated religious decorations hang on the blue and white walls.

A portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe watches over the 865-square-foot office with three pink and blue exam rooms filled with an array of cartoon posters on the walls and ceilings.

The clinic has no computer filing system, so with the help of his two nurses, Villarosa hand-writes each file at the end of the day. Often, Villarosa, a husband and father of four who commutes daily to Immokalee from his home in East Naples, doesn’t leave his office until 7 or 8 p.m.

While checking out Jesus’ heart with a stethoscope, Villarosa asks Uriostegui about her son’s health. The concerned single mother was visiting the doctor because Jesus was suffering from constipation.

“Lo siento (I’m sorry),” Villarosa tells Jesus as he checks him. He’s wearing a bolo tie with a buttoned-up long-sleeved shirt and slacks. He rarely wears a white doctor’s jacket. He wants to be approachable to both adults and children, he says.

To ease the boy’s tears, Villarosa playfully pokes a finger at his belly and “magically” pulls stickers from behind his ear.

Jesus’ tiny hand accepts the stickers. He giggles.

During the visit, a nurse gives Uriostegui a free packet of about 72 diapers, one of about 15 packets donated by Ave Maria University.

For the past 18 years, Villarosa has been committed to helping families in the small farming community 40 miles northeast of Naples. He doesn’t charge patients who don’t have insurance or charges very low fees. Of Villarosa’s 1,000 patients, about 90 percent are on Medicaid.

“We don’t discriminate,” Villarosa says. “To me, they are children of God.”

Funds to serve patients without insurance — for free or for a fee of $10, $15 or $20 — come from One by One Leadership Foundation of Southwest Florida, a faith-based, nonprofit organization. The pediatric clinic receives at least $1,000 a month from them, Villarosa says.

Florida Community Bank, which has headquarters in Immokalee, has been paying his medical malpractice insurance premiums for the past two years. This year, he received more $12,000.

The board felt that they needed to support Villarosa, says Steve Price, chairman of the board and CEO of the bank.

“Dr. V is an outstanding pediatrician and Immokalee desperately needs him,” Price says. “He is not only a good doctor, but a man who has a good heart.”

Father Patrick O’Connor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish echoes Price’s sentiments, commending Villarosa for giving up what could have been a “very lucrative career” to serve the poor community.

 

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