{"id":2212,"date":"2026-01-20T15:53:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/?page_id=2212"},"modified":"2026-01-22T14:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T19:28:45","slug":"our-founder","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/our-founder\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Founder"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"et_pb_section_0 et_pb_section et_section_regular et_flex_section\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_row_0 et_pb_row et_block_row\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_column_0 et_pb_column et_pb_column_4_4 et-last-child et_block_column et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_text_0 et_pb_text et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_module et_block_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><h2><strong>Our Founder<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"et_pb_divider_0 et_pb_divider et_pb_space et_pb_divider_position_top et_pb_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_divider_internal\"><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"et_pb_row_1 et_pb_row et_flex_row\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_column_1 et_pb_column et-last-child et_flex_column et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough et_flex_column_24_24 et_flex_column_24_24_tablet et_flex_column_24_24_phone\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_text_1 et_pb_text et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_module et_flex_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><p><strong>Paul Ramos <\/strong>(1941-2000)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"et_pb_text_2 et_pb_text et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_module et_flex_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><p><strong>Founder<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"et_pb_row_2 et_pb_row et_flex_row\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_column_2 et_pb_column et_flex_column et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough et_flex_column_12_24 et_flex_column_12_24_tablet et_flex_column_24_24_phone\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_text_3 et_pb_text et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_module et_flex_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><p><span>Paul was a visionary and staunch advocate of affordable health care and social justice for all regardless of their status in life. As founder and Executive Director of Betances Health Center, Paul worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of the Lower East Side - and beyond - to meet the desperate need for accessible quality health care and social services. Paul founded Betances in 1970, and initially ran the agency out of a makeshift office above a pickle factory, delivering health services from a mobile medical unit. Largely through Paul's determination and hard work, Betances found a permanent home on Henry Street in the Lower East Side, one of New York City's most diverse immigrant communities, where it has become one of the leading comprehensive primary care facilities serving poor and low income community members. Paul guided Betances' accomplishments and status as an early provider of \"culturally competent, holistic\" care long before the terms became buzzwords over the center's four decade history. Over the center's history, many came to see Paul as a modern day incarnation of the agency's namesake, Ramon Emeterio Betances, a 19th century Puerto Rican physician and poet known as the \"Father of the Poor\", who received a medical degree in Europe and then returned to Puerto Rico to found a hospital, defend the island against a cholera epidemic, and fight against slavery.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"et_pb_column_3 et_pb_column et-last-child et_flex_column et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough et_flex_column_12_24 et_flex_column_12_24_tablet et_flex_column_24_24_phone\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_image_0 et_pb_image et_pb_module et_flex_module\"><span class=\"et_pb_image_wrap\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Paul-Ramos-of-Betances.jpg\" title=\"Paul Ramos of Betances\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Paul-Ramos-of-Betances.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Paul-Ramos-of-Betances-980x980.jpg 980w, https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Paul-Ramos-of-Betances-480x480.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1000px, 100vw\" class=\"wp-image-2216\" \/><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2212","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2212"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2364,"href":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2212\/revisions\/2364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betances.org\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}