Ileana Perez-Figueroa, MD, is proud of her Hispanic heritage.

Born and raised in Virginia, her parents maintained a Spanish-speaking-only household and she spent many summers with relatives in Puerto Rico learning about her culture and language.

An inquisitive child, she enjoyed her science classes and always wanted to understand “why,” such as why are the leaves green.

Her passion for medicine took root during an elementary school project. Somewhere in the basement of her childhood home lies a VHS recording of 8-year-old Ileana dressed as Elizabeth Blackwell – the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.

“In the third grade, we had a Famous Person’s Tea Party,” she said. “Our teacher said to pick someone from history who we admired and would want to be like. I wanted to be like Elizabeth Blackwell because, as a doctor, I could help people, and answer the question, “why.”

In high school, her passion for the sciences grew deeper after volunteering at a local hospital. Flash forward a couple of decades and you’ll find her caring for patients at St. Luke’s Hazleton Primary Care. The practice is in the St. Luke’s Health Center – Hazelton in the Church Hill Mall.

“I love talking to my patients,” she said. “I love being a part of their life journey and keeping them healthy. When they’re ill, I have the honor of being part of the team that helps them regain their health.”

She shares a story of a patient she met while working at the St. Luke’s Anderson Campus.

“He was about 45 years old and had never been to a doctor before because he was “healthy as a horse. Unfortunately, the patient had suffered a heart attack and during his hospital stay, he was diagnosed with type II diabetes.”

Since he didn’t have a PCP, he continued seeing Dr. Perez-Figueroa in the outpatient clinic.

A proponent of lifestyle medicine, she guided him to make lifestyle changes to manage his diabetes. He slowly transitioned to a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet, stopped smoking and lost 15 pounds.

Within 18 months, he no longer needed insulin. Months later, he controlled his diabetes entirely through his healthy diet and exercise.

“Barriers to the health care system, including language, access and literacy, culminated in this man having a heart attack. But a bilingual provider who explained what had happened and provided counseling at that moment enabled him to change for the better. He fulfilled his goal of not being on insulin despite having diabetes,” she said.

This example illustrates the importance of matching providers’ diversity with the area served in terms of language, race/ethnicity and culture.

“When a provider can relate on some level to the cultural values that certain populations hold so near and dear to them, it builds a bridge between the provider and patient,” she said. “Respecting and understanding cultural diversity allows you to create rapport with patients and their families, at a much deeper level.”

Dr. Perez-Figueroa’s educational journey has enabled her to explore different states and even countries, ever-broadening her exposure to diversity.

In college, she majored in biology with a focus on the pre-medical sciences. She graduated from St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, where she met her husband Vikas Yellapu. She also earned a master’s degree in public health at the University of California, Berkley.

In 2017, Dr. Perez- Figueroa’s husband accepted a position at St. Luke’s University Health Network.

During this time, she began working with the St. Luke’s Community Health and Preventive Medicine Department at the Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley in Bethlehem where she completed her MPH Practicum. Perez-Figueroa chose Family Medicine because she is dedicated to keeping patients, families and communities healthy.

“Family Medicine focuses on prevention and aims to ensure a good quality of life for all patients,” she said. “Through well checkups and screenings, we manage care over a lifetime. It’s essential that patients find a primary care provider they feel comfortable with. You must be very transparent and vulnerable with your PCP, so you need a strong comfort level.

“If it feels like you’re talking to a good friend, then you know it’s the right fit for you.”