LOS ANGELES – AltaMed Health Services, the nation's largest community health center, has appointed Efrain Talamantes, MD, MBA, MSc, as the Chief Operating Officer.
In this new role, Dr. Talamantes will oversee health services operations and clinical services—including medical, behavioral health, dental, and pharmacy—and the departments that support them.
"I am confident that assigning Dr. Talamantes to lead health services means placing our clinics in the hands of a physician who fully understands the needs of our patient-facing teams and those they serve," said Cástulo de la Rocha, president, and CEO of AltaMed Health Services. "His passion for medicine and helping the community translates to the work he does at AltaMed and the mentorship he provides for aspiring medical professionals."
Since joining AltaMed in 2018, he has led health services and community-partnered research and training to advance health equity and medical education and served as medical director of the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity. Under his leadership, the Institute received Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Funding, enabling a community partnership that has informed AltaMed research priorities. Dr. Talamantes also serves as the inaugural Designated Institutional Officer (DIO) for the AltaMed Graduate Medical Education Committee and the Family Medicine Residency Program.
“My parents immigrated to the United States from a poor rural town in Jalisco, Mexico, in search of a better future, and this humble upbringing has had a positive impact on my career,” said Dr. Talamantes. “The success and recognition I’ve received so far as a physician, researcher, and leader are a result of overcoming poverty and committing to give back to the people who are struggling to do the same.”
Prior to joining AltaMed, Dr. Talamantes served as the medical director for the Hospital Medicine Department at the new Martin Luther King Junior Community Hospital in Los Angeles. He then served as the Associate Director for the University of California, Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities, and co-directed the Center for a Diverse Healthcare Workforce. He is the co-founder of MiMentor.org and leads initiatives throughout the country to enhance leadership and diversity in the health care workforce.
Dr. Talamantes earned his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), an MBA at Emory University, and Masters of Science in Health Policy and Management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. He also completed the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program at UCLA. Dr. Talamantes completed his internal medicine residency at the University of California, Davis.
To learn more about AltaMed, visit www.AltaMed.org.