Charitable Foundation

White Memorial: Making a Difference in People's Lives

A Heart for His Community

When six-year-old Miguel Martinez entered school, his teacher placed him in a class for mentally challenged students – because he could not speak English.

Back then, the Martinez family had just emigrated from Chihuahua, Mexico, to a tough, crime-plagued neighborhood in Los Angeles. The family could not afford English classes for the young boy, who dreamed of being an astronaut or an architect. When his father noticed that Miguel wasn’t bringing home any homework he knew something was wrong. He immediately went to the school and ensured that the boy was placed in regular classes.

Then when Miguel was in the eighth grade, his father, a tile layer, believed in the power of education and set the expectation that each of his children would go to college. One day he turned to his son and said, “You’re very smart, and you help people. Go to medical school.”

So Miguel did. He attended both Yale and Stanford Universities on scholarships. He completed a residency in urology at White memorial medical Center. Today the boy is Miguel Martinez, MD, President of the Los Angeles Urology Medical Group at White Memorial. Dr. Martinez has served as Chair of the hospital’s Charitable Foundation Board of Directors, and has also served on the hospital’s Governing Board.

He formed a lasting friendship with the family of renowned boxer Oscar De La Hoya who later gave a generous donation to establish the Cecilia Gonzalez De La Hoya Cancer Center, named after Oscar’s mother.

With an ivy-league education, Dr. Martinez could have practiced medicine anywhere. Instead he chose to stay and give back to the community.

“This is where I wanted to be because I wanted to be close to home,” he says. “I love this community.”