7 BRONX WEEKLY July 5, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
BY JASON COHEN
He led a social justice movement
in the 1970s to provide health care
for Latinos in the south Bronx and
nearly 50 years ago founded Urban
Health Plan (UHP).
Sadly, at the age of 90, Dr. Richard
“Doc” Izquierdo passed away on
June 28.
Throughout his life, Doc worked
tirelessly to improve health care in
the south Bronx. He was a long time
member and fi rst chairperson of
Community Board 2 and he led the
fi ght to restore the south Bronx after
hundreds left the area due to drugs,
fi res, poverty and redlining.
In 2010, he and his daughter Paloma
Izquierdo-Hernandez, who
serves as CEO of UHP, founded the
Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health & Science
Charter School at 800 Home St.
This was the fi rst charter school in
NYC to offer educational programs
geared toward preparing students for
jobs in the health care sector.
“With a wonderful sense of humor
and no-nonsense attitude, Doc
brought his wealth of knowledge,
compassion and love to everything
he did,” Urban Health said in a statement.
“He loved music and dancing
and had a deep respect for his profession.
We will miss his generous
spirit, his kindness, his big heart and
his even bigger love for life.”
Izquierdo was a life-long resident
of the south Bronx and a pediatrician
and family practitioner. Because of
the lack of primary care services in
the area, many residents had grown
accustomed to waiting on long lines
in local hospital emergency rooms for
routine medical care or for the treatment
of acute medical conditions,
which could have been prevented if
diagnosed earlier.
Dr. Izquierdo opened the San Juan
Health Center in 1967. Seven years
later, UHP, a private, nonprofi t corporation
licensed by the Department
of Health, was established to broaden
the scope of the work started by the
San Juan Health Center.
Many people expressed praise and
condolences to Izquierdo on social
media. Among them was Borough
President Ruben Diaz. “Doc” was not
only Diaz’s pediatrician, but his son’s
as well. In fact, in 2015 he was given
the key to the borough.
“He was not just a doctor, but a
role model, fi ghting for community,”
Diaz said on Twitter. “Dr. Izquierdo
was also nimble on his feet with his
fl ashy salsa moves. I know he’s dancing
in heaven. I’m going to miss him
dearly.”
For many years, he was one of the
few doctors in the community. He became
an icon for the neighborhood
and a person that was always sought
out. He truly became “The Urban
Country Doctor.”
In 1967, he was appointed by Borough
President Herman Badillo to
be the fi rst chairman of the newly
formed Community Planning Board.
He also served as the Chairman of
the 41st Precinct Community Council
for 14 years.
Dr. Richard “Doc” Izquierdo passed away Sunday Courtesy of UHP
Doc has served on numerous and
varied organizations. He hosted a radio
program called “Puerto Rican
Panorama” on NBC and interviewed
over 150 prominent Puerto Ricans.
He has been an active member of the
Bronx Medical Society and the Medical
Society of the State of New York,
as well as the Spanish American
Medical-Dental Society since 1962.
Councilman Rafael Salamanca
also refl ected on the departed.
“Dr. Izquierdo was a mentor to
me growing up and a beloved leader
in more ways than one,” Salamanca
said on Twitter. “Throughout my
years at Urban Health Plan Inc. and
well past that time, I knew, without a
doubt, I could always turn to Doc for
advice, as so did many others. Doc’s
love for dedication to his community
remains awe-inspiring and for that I
will always remember him with profound
admiration.”
‘Doc’ Izquierdo, dies at 90
Bronx community mourns the passing
of Urban Health Plan founder
CEC 8 & CB 10 oppose DOE budget cuts
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Many in the Bronx from parents
to politicians recently expressed
a strong opposition to potential
department of education
budget cuts that would come in
the following academic year.
During a recent CEC 8 meeting
on Wednesday, June 17, State
Senators Alessandra Biaggi and
Luis Sepulveda along with Assemblyman
Michael Benedetto
and Councilman Mark Gjonaj all
vowed to do what lies within their
power to prevent school budget
cuts coming in part by the ramifi -
cations of COVID-19.
While Sepulveda said that the
senate must be “vigilant” in protecting
the upcoming school budget,
Biaggi continued on to say
that her District 34 schools are
owed about $46 million in funding
as it is.
Also stressing a severe need
for federal aid, many of the Bronx
politicians that virtually attended
the Webex meeting feared for a
possible $20 billion budget defi cit
upcoming without proper assistance,
which Benedetto stressed
should be coming from Washington.
At a city level, Gjonaj gave assurance
to concerned members of
the CEC 8, saying, “I’ll continue
to fund every single school in my
district.”
Angela Torres, who’s on the
Community Board 10 youth and
education committee chair as
well as the P.S 304 PTA vice president
also spoke at the meeting in
regards to the signifi cance of upcoming
fi nancial needs of Bronx
schools, fearing budget cuts that
escalate to 20 percent.
Shortly after, she along with
CB 10 voted to send a letter to
Gjonaj, Councilmen Andy King
and Ruben Diaz, Sr. that would
petition to keep funding for local
schools.
In addition to talks about funding,
the meeting also began addressing
what and how there
could be a potential return to
classrooms in the fall months.
While nothing has been determined
at this time, the DOE is
looking into phased and rolling
starts as it begins looking at reopening
school districts.
This method would bring in
portions of the school while administering
social distancing protocols
as well as students having
split schedules during their physical
time in schools.
While a proper capacity is still
being determined, new building
procedures that will likely be put
into place would intensely limit
staff and student movement during
academic days.
There will also be a need to
modify transportation such as
school buses and implement a
much more intense cleaning regimen
for buses, though a concrete
plan for that was not discussed
during that meeting.
Food safety was also a concern
on the minds of many educators
and a plan is to be worked out on
safely serving students food in a
post coronavirus, modifi ed cafeteria.
The CEC 8 meeting also discussed
mental health in the wake
of the world’s global climate and
how social workers and other professionals
would be utilized for
families enduring a heavy mental
burden during these intensely
trying times.
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