Latest news with #Cárdenas
Forbes
02-04-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Building Trust And Access For Healthier Latino Communities
Erik Cárdenas co-founded Zócalo Health to increase access to clinical and social care and improve ... More patient experiences for underserved communities. In this Q&A, Sorenson Impact Institute VC & Impact Investing Senior Associate Hunter Conrad talks with Erik Cárdenas, Co-Founder and CEO of Zócalo Health, to learn how the company leans into community and connection to increase access to clinical and social care and improve patient experiences for underserved communities. The Sorenson Impact Foundation, which invests in innovative impact business models enabling resilience, opportunity, and higher quality of life for low-income populations, invested in Zócalo Health in 2024. Erik Cárdenas founded Zócalo Health to help address the healthcare needs of Latinos and other underserved populations, and in turn, help build more resilient communities and a stronger economy. As Cárdenas describes, connecting underserved groups with quality healthcare is a foundational step that creates rippling impact: 'When someone gains access to quality care, it doesn't just improve their health; it strengthens the foundation of their household, boosts workforce productivity, and reduces long-term healthcare costs for the system as a whole,' Cárdenas says. The United States healthcare system faces significant challenges in delivering effective, equitable and accessible care – particularly for low-income communities, people of color, and rural communities. High costs, complex insurance structures, and limited access to primary and preventive care exacerbate disparities, leaving millions underserved or without care altogether–despite the U.S. spending a staggering 18% of GDP on healthcare costs. Because social determinants of health (SDoH) such as housing, education, food access, and transportation are key drivers of health, low-income communities are at elevated risk for poor health outcomes. Zócalo Health's focus on increasing access to quality care by meeting patients where they are in their communities with a holistic care model demonstrated clear alignment with the Sorenson Impact Foundation's investment thesis in the health sector. In addition to the impact for individuals achieved through better health outcomes, a community-based, preventative model such as Zócalo has the potential to reduce reliance on costly, reactive healthcare interventions and more effectively manage chronic conditions, thereby reducing overall costs to the system. 'At a macro level, healthcare equity is a matter of national stability,' Cárdenas says. 'The U.S. Latino population is projected to reach nearly 30% of the total population by 2050. Ensuring that this growing demographic has access to high-quality, culturally competent healthcare isn't just the right thing to do — it's a necessity for the country's economic and social future.' Zócalo Health aims to make a lasting impact by providing culturally aligned services that build trust between the Latino community and healthcare providers. 'It's not just about logistics — it's about deeply ingrained cultural beliefs that shape how Latinos engage with healthcare,' Cárdenas says. 'In California, which is the first market where we are operating, Latinos make up over 50% of the Medicaid population, yet they experience worse health outcomes and lower engagement than other Medicaid members because the system does not meet their needs from a language and cultural perspective.' The community health workers at Zócalo Health, who are hired and trained locally, are familiar with the challenges their patients face. With this perspective, they can better help clients navigate the healthcare system, identify benefits they qualify for, and connect them with support for housing, food, transportation, and other essential services. For Cardenas, access to healthcare is an essential pathway to empowerment. He recently joined me for a conversation about the community-based services that Zócalo Health provides and how they support the company's mission to shape a more equitable healthcare system. Hunter Conrad: Please share a bit about why you established Zócalo and the services it provides. How do they accommodate some of the unique challenges that Latinos face in accessing healthcare services? Erik Cárdenas: Zócalo Health was born out of both a personal and professional calling. Growing up in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood in Houston, I saw firsthand how Latino families struggle to access culturally responsive, affordable, and trustworthy healthcare. Too often, the system feels like an impenetrable maze, particularly for Latinos on Medicaid, who face language barriers, provider shortages, and a deep mistrust of institutions due to years of systemic neglect. Many don't know what benefits they qualify for or how to navigate the system. Others face social barriers like food insecurity, unstable housing, or a lack of transportation, all of which directly impact health. Zócalo Health was created to remove these barriers and provide whole-person care that reflects how Latinos actually engage with healthcare — not how the system expects them to. Our model blends primary care, behavioral health, and community support services through bilingual, culturally competent providers and trusted promotoras de salud (community health workers) who guide members through every step of their care. We also take a flexible approach to care delivery that includes extended hours for working families, proactive outreach, and virtual, in-home, and community-based options. By meeting people where they are, honoring their lived experiences, and eliminating friction points, we're not just delivering healthcare — we're creating a system that Latinos trust and feel ownership over. HC: How does Zócalo help individuals access and navigate the healthcare system – helping to overcome language barriers and a lack of systematic trust? EC: For many Latinos, healthcare isn't just inaccessible — it's alienating. The system is complex, bureaucratic, and historically unwelcoming, leaving people feeling dismissed, misunderstood, or afraid to engage at all. At Zócalo, we bridge this gap by prioritizing trust, language accessibility, and cultural alignment. Our promotoras de salud, who are trusted members of the Latino community, help individuals understand their Medicaid benefits and enroll in services. They go beyond logistics to help address deeply ingrained cultural beliefs that shape how Latinos engage with healthcare. By embedding trust into every interaction, removing language barriers, and simplifying the process, Zócalo Health doesn't just connect Latinos to care — we rebuild confidence in the system itself. HC: How does access to healthcare play out beyond these individuals — to their families, communities, the economy, and society as a whole? EC: In Latino communities, familismo — the cultural emphasis on family — is central to how people live, work, and make decisions. When one family member struggles with a chronic condition, mental health challenge, or unaddressed medical need, it affects everyone. A parent managing uncontrolled diabetes without proper support, for example, may miss work frequently, be unable to care for their children, or experience financial strain from ER visits. A child with undiagnosed asthma might struggle in school, impacting their future opportunities. By ensuring that individuals — especially parents and caregivers — have access to preventive and ongoing care, we're not just improving their lives; we're creating a more stable, healthier environment for entire families. Latinos are the backbone of many industries in the U.S., including agriculture, construction, service, and hospitality. Yet, these same workers often lack access to employer-sponsored healthcare, making Medicaid their primary — if not only — option. Without access to preventive care, minor health issues can escalate into major problems that take individuals out of the workforce, destabilizing families and the local economy. While we are a venture-backed startup, we are deeply committed to social impact. We don't just deliver care; we invest in the very communities we serve. One of the most powerful ways we do this is by hiring and developing community health workers from the same neighborhoods where our patients live. This has impact on two critical fronts: This workforce development approach is a sustainable model for economic empowerment. Rather than relying on external organizations to provide social services, we are building economic opportunity directly within the community, ensuring that wealth and expertise remain where they are needed most. From a broader economic perspective, when individuals have stable employment, access to healthcare, and career growth opportunities, they are better positioned to support their families, contribute to local economies, and break cycles of poverty that have persisted for generations. HC: How does Zócalo work with health plans to coordinate care and clinical services? EC: Zócalo Health is redefining how healthcare is delivered to Latino communities, and a critical part of that mission is our partnerships with Medicaid health plans. While we started in California, where we provide Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and community support services, our model is scalable and replicable. We are actively expanding to other states because the challenges we address — low engagement, fragmented care, and unmet social needs — are not unique to California. Health plans across the country need solutions that effectively reach, engage, and care for underserved populations, and that is exactly what we do. California is home to the largest Latino population in the U.S., and Medicaid plays a vital role in ensuring healthcare access for this community. Despite this, Latinos continue to face significant barriers to care. We provide a community-centered, tech-enabled model that goes beyond traditional clinical care. Our services include ECM for Medicaid members with complex medical and social needs. We also connect Medicaid patients with bilingual, culturally competent providers. By embedding trusted community relationships into our care model, we increase engagement, improve health outcomes, and lower the total cost of care — key priorities for our health plan partners. HC: Describe how you've seen access to healthcare change people's lives. EC: We see every day how trust in healthcare can mean the difference between fear and hope, isolation and engagement. For many Latinos, especially those navigating the uncertainty of immigration policies, fear has become a barrier to care. Patients tell us they avoid leaving their homes, even for basic needs, worried that seeking help could expose them to risks beyond their health. One woman, a Medicaid recipient, had been living in self-imposed isolation, afraid to step outside. She had ignored her own medical needs for months, unsure where to turn. But through Zócalo, she found a safe space. Our promotoras de salud reached out, listened without judgment, and connected her to essential resources. Her story is not unique. Forty percent of Medicaid recipients report receiving care from someone they don't trust. We believe healthcare must earn that trust first. No one prioritizes heart health if they're worried about keeping the lights on, and no one focuses on managing diabetes when they fear losing their home. This is why Zócalo Health exists: to meet people where they are, listen first, and create a system they feel safe engaging with. Only when people feel safe can they truly take charge of their health. Hunter Conrad is a Senior Associate on the Impact Investing team at the Sorenson Impact Institute, where she focuses on driving health equity through strategic investments. With a passion for creating positive social change, Conrad leverages her expertise in building and scaling products in startups to identify and support ventures that address systemic health disparities and improve outcomes for underserved communities. She holds a bachelor's degree in Environmental Health from UC Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Utah where she won the 2024 Kellogg-Morgan Stanely Sustainable Investing Challenge. Erik Cárdenas is the co-founder and CEO of Zócalo Health, a tech-enabled, value-based care provider dedicated to serving entire Latino households facing complex health challenges and unmet social needs. Focused on Medicaid families in underserved communities, Zócalo Health delivers culturally aligned care by meeting individuals where they are, supported by multidisciplinary care teams centered around the effective use of community health workers. Prior to launching Zócalo Health, Cárdenas was a founding team member and senior leader at Amazon Care, where he played a crucial role in leading technical teams and significantly contributed to Amazon's COVID-19 response and global testing initiatives. His entrepreneurial spirit and expertise in health systems are also reflected in his leadership roles at Tenet Health and EverlyWell. Cárdenas earned his undergraduate degree from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX. In 2023, he was recognized by Modern Healthcare, Fierce Pharma, and Rock Health for his innovative contributions to healthcare.
The Guardian
28-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
JD Vance's home town is bouncing back – and it's largely thanks to immigrants
When Daniel Cárdenas from Coahuila, Mexico, first arrived in Middletown, a post-industrial city of 50,000 people in south-west Ohio, he was immediately enamored. 'It's a small town with friendly people. You have shops, big stores; there's no traffic,' he says. 'I really fell in love with Middletown. It's awesome.' A pastor at the First United Methodist Church since 2022, Cárdenas is one of a growing number of immigrants from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Honduras who have moved to the hometown of Vice-President JD Vance in recent years. And while Vance has been at the forefront of anti-immigrant rhetoric in the US, the story of immigration's impact on Middletown is one of rebirth and success. Dominated for decades by a huge steel plant on the south side of town, Middletown has felt the effects of the decline of American manufacturing more than most. A 2006 lockout at the steel plant that lasted for more than a year saw AK Steel lay off nearly a thousand workers. The ramifications of the Great Recession that followed in 2008 can still be felt, fueling a population decline of more than 10% between 2010 and 2020. But today, the city is bouncing back, with immigrants such as Cárdenas playing a central role. Nearly all of its population growth since 2010 can be attributed to its foreign-born population, which stands at more than 2,000 people. Its Hispanic communities have helped turn Middletown into one of the few regional cities in the state with a growing population. Homes and commercial spaces on the city's south side have been revitalized, creating new sources of property and income tax revenue for city authorities. Mexican food trucks dot the city's street corners and Spanish chatter fills its local chain restaurants. In November, Middletown's mayor, Elizabeth Slamka, was elected without having any political experience, and is the daughter of an immigrant mother from Colombia. 'After the pandemic, everything was closed,' says Cárdenas. 'And now we are having a kind of boost in our community, and the Hispanic communities are helping with that.' Many, he says, work in construction and landscaping jobs – industries that have suffered chronic staffing shortages since the pandemic and which represent a wider midwestern trend. The midwest is set to be one of the regions most affected by population decline in the decades ahead. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan currently make up four of the 10 most populus states in the country, but all four are expected to experience population decline by 2050. Shrinking populations for communities in the industrial midwest mean fewer resources for infrastructure, maintenance and other basic needs. Vance, however, has made criticizing immigrants a central theme of his political career. Since before his election win last November, he has claimed immigrants undercut American workers, and in recent weeks has claimed that uncontrolled immigration is the 'greatest threat' to the US. And he's not alone. For decades Middletown's Butler county sheriff Richard Jones, who sports a Stetson hat, has been known for taking an anti-immigrant stance. The same week Donald Trump was re-elected to the White House, Jones installed a sign outside the county jail that reads: 'illegal aliens here.' Recently Jones, who has had a grip on the sheriff's office for more than 20 years, began renting out jail cells to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency at a rate of $68 per person a day and $36 an hour for transportation, or in his own words for 'as much as I can get'. This month, the sheriff's office and a city neighboring Middletown were ordered to pay a $1.2m settlement for the wrongful detention of around 500 people over a two-year period beginning in 2017. The anti-immigrant rhetoric from Vance, Jones and President Trump has hit home. After mass, some people have approached Cárdenas expressing fear of Ice raids, following one such incident that saw two people detained 20 miles north of Middletown just days after Trump took office in January. 'People are saying they are seeing undercover police cars; people are afraid, they don't know what to believe; there are a lot of rumors,' he says. 'In my sermons, I try to give some hope.' Two years ago, Alexandra Gomez established the Latinos Unidos de Middletown Ohio organization to serve as a venue for Latino immigrants to find education, housing and employment resources. 'At our first festival in 2023 we had about 1,500 to 2,000 people,' she says. But statements from the new administration in recent weeks have fueled concern. 'It was real here; people were scared, they did not want to go out. They were afraid to go to work,' she says. 'And it isn't that people were afraid that Ice would show up [at their gatherings] but that someone who felt the right to be rude shows up. The biggest concerns people have are: 'How do I go to work?'' One of the biggest effects of the recent rise in immigration has been seen in the city's schools. Over the last 15 years, the number of students taking English language classes has more than doubled. Today, nearly one-in-five students are Hispanic or Latino, their presence helping to keep the wider school system funded and operating. The winner of last year's Middletown Community Foundation's volunteer of the year award was a high school teacher originally from Colombia. Gomez and Cárdenas say a source of comfort for immigrants has come from a surprising source: the local police force. Cárdenas says his and other churches recently had a meeting with the city police force and was told that it wouldn't be working with Ice to request visa documents or detain suspected illegal immigrants. 'They said: 'We are not going to profile anybody; we are just going to do our job.'' That was echoed by Gomez. 'They reached out to us and basically said: 'We've got other things to do. It's not our job to be chasing paperwork.'' Such has been the growth in Middletown – around three-fourths of the city's foreign-born population are from Latin American countries, according to the US Census Bureau –, that Roberto Vargas from Guadalajara, Mexico, saw on opportunity to open the Cancun Mexican restaurant on the city's eastern edge in December 2023. 'I have good people working for me; I haven't heard anyone have issues with [deportations or Ice activity],' he says. For him, it's the state of the economy that is the major concern. 'Restaurants all over the place are closing down. It's scary,' he says. Since Trump took office, the US economy has been on unsteady ground, with the stock market losing 7% of its value. 'I don't know what's going on.'
