|
 Nilda
I. Soto, M.D. is the lead physician at the Open Door
Health Center, Homestead. We thought you would like
to know more about Dr. Soto who is a committed Christian
and member of Riverside Baptist Church, Miami.
{We enter her office for the interview and she points
to a simple black and white 8 x 10 photo of a little
girl on her office wall. The girl is about 6 years old.
She is walking through a ghetto street, is dressed in
a hand-me-down pinafore and wearing scuffed shoes.}
Dr. SOTO: "That's me! I was raised
in a very poor section of San Juan, Puerto Rico. My
father was a jitney driver and my mother worked in a
factory. I was the third of four children and I was
malnourished, but we were all determined to get out
of those conditions. I was often sick and had to go
to the doctor. He would give me injections which hurt.
I decided that I wanted to be a doctor to help people,
but I would not hurt them when I gave them shots! Our
town doctor told my mother that I would never become
a doctor because in those days, women were expected
only to stay at home, take care of the children and
house, and cook for her husband."
Q: "Tell us about your medical
training."
DR. SOTO: "After university in
Puerto Rico, I was accepted at the University of Puerto
Rico Medical School. Of 125 medical students, only 25
were women. It was very difficult for us. All the women
did not finish. But I received my degree and was asked
to teach students and residents at the school of medicine.
Young and single, I enjoyed my busy career."
Q: "When did you come to the
states?"
DR. SOTO: "Well, that is a long
story! A young man, Ivory Johnson, from America was
on vacation in Puerto Rico (I didn't know he was an
American because he was so quiet!) Soon we fell in love,
dated for two years and were married. Then we moved
to Washington, D.C. where he worked at the Pentagon,
and I got a job in a hospital."
Q: "Tell us more about your family?"
DR. SOTO: "Eventually Ivory and
I moved to Florida and we had a son, Javier, who is
now 16. We are all active members of Riverside Baptist
Church in Miami where Dr. Ray Johnson is pastor. Javier
loves to help people. Once when he was about ten, and
I was called to assist during a hurricane disaster,
he came along and worked right beside me, doing what
things a little boy could do."
Q: "Dr. Soto, how would you describe
a 'typical' patient here at the clinic?"
DR. SOTO: "There are 40,000 to
50,000 uninsured poor in this area of south Miami-Dade
County. Most of them are undocumented migrant farm workers
who would have to travel thirty-five miles north to
the only other public/free hospital nearby if we were
not here. Because of their questionable legal status,
patients are wary at first about coming to the clinic.
Often they will try home remedies or simply neglect
their condition until it becomes acute before they visit
a doctor."
Q: "What problems do your patients
have when they enter the clinic?"
DR. SOTO: "The migrant workers
develop respiratory diseases because of the nature of
their work. They breath air filled with fertilizer toxins,
pollen, and fine limestone powder dust typical of the
soil here in this area. We also see many cases of diabetes
and high blood pressure as a result of diet and genetic
disposition. I have started a wellness program of walking
here at the clinic so that my patients can learn the
benefits of regular and vigorous exercise."
Q: "What keeps you going? What
motivates you?"
DR. SOTO: "There is such a huge
need, and God placed me here to help people."
Q: "What would you like to say
to our readers?"
DR. SOTO: "America is a rich nation,
but it does not have fewer health problems than less
developed countries....in America, the problems are
hidden. For example, most of us are not aware that there
are forty million un-insured and under-insured in our
country. Together, we can do much more to help these
people."
We are pleased to have Dr. Soto and the entire staff
of Open Door Health Center located in the Open House
Ministries Center in Homestead.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Open Door Clinic
1350 SW 4th St
Homestead FL 33030
Phone: 305-246-2400
FAX: 305-246-5010 |
