Someone San Diego Should Know: Dr. Suzanne Afflalo

During the past 30 years, Dr. Suzanne Afflalo has been well-known for spending much of her free time volunteering in underserved communities providing health education and free medical services. Her Community Health and Resource Fair, alone, helps more than 350 residents of southeastern San Diego each month.

Afflalo’s motivations can be traced back to her upbringing and extraordinary mother, Esmie.

“I have never forgotten where I came from or my mother’s influence,” she said.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Afflalo and two of her four siblings were raised in Los Angeles by their mother.

They lived in poverty sharing a two-bedroom one bath home with 11 people.  When Afflalo was 10 her family moved to their own rental in the same predominantly Black neighborhood.

“My mother did domestic work during the day and went to school at night,” Afflalo said. “She wanted to become a registered nurse. She would take a nap between jobs and school and I became the homemaker. I would cook, do laundry and clean the house.”

Although the neighborhood had drugs and gangs, Afflalo said she was too busy for that lifestyle.

Her mother instilled strong values in the children, including compassion for others. She would regularly read them Bible passages and they attended Catholic school.

“My mother always helped people even though we had nothing,” Afflalo recalled. “She would take people in who needed shelter.

“She emphasized education and showed us its importance by her own example. And I learned from her that hard work can result in success.”

Her mother succeeded in becoming a registered nurse at age 50.

Inspired by her mother, Afflalo decided to become a doctor. Her path was difficult, but her mom encouraged her at every step.

She worked during high school to help support the family, yet graduated in 1975 an “A” student.

To help pay expenses, she worked full-time during college and the first two years of medical school.

In 1989, she graduated medical school. “My mother was with me at the graduation ceremony when I got my diploma,” she said. “There were tears in my eyes while I was hugging her. It was a rough road, particularly since only 3 of 150 students were Black.”

After completing a residency, she came to San Diego in 1992 to work for Kaiser Permanente as a family physician. Eventually she rose to chief of the Family Medicine Department where, she said, “I found my voice.”

While serving as chief, Afflalo discovered that minority patients were receiving unequal treatment. She spoke out, held workshops and made changes aimed at correcting the inequities. “I empowered patients and changed practices,” she said. “Fortunately, my boss had my back.”

Her community service began shortly after joining Kaiser. “Patients invited me to their churches, and they would ask me to speak about health issues. Then, I would do organized programs and testing,” she said.

“Eventually, every weekend I was not on call I would be in southeastern San Diego.

“At Kaiser, I was making an impact one patient at a time. In the community, there were many.”

Her community work began alone, but eventually grew with additional volunteers, including physicians, assistants and students.

In 2014, she founded “A Healthier Me,” promoting lifestyle changes and improved health in underserved communities. The program began in one church and spread to others.

Since 2017, her Community Health and Resource Fair has been held every month at the Jackie Robinson YMCA, providing a multitude of health-related services, such as free screening and vaccines.

Afflalo, 68, lives in Tierrasanta. She retired from Kaiser in 2015 and currently runs a medical clinic.

Among her many professional and community awards, she was designated Kaiser’s Family Physician of the Year and seven times a top 100 San Diego doctor, received two city of San Diego proclamations for extraordinary community service and an NAACP’s top humanitarian award.

Afflalo said the values her mother passed on through example — education, hard work, faith and compassion — shaped her career path. And, “My mother instilled in me a servant’s heart.”

About this series

Goldsmith is a Union-Tribune contributing columnist.

We welcome reader suggestions of people who have done something extraordinary or otherwise educational, inspiring or interesting and who have not received much previous media. Please send suggestions to Jan Goldsmith at jgsandiego@yahoo.com