On MLK Day, doctor has concerns about nation's health

BALDWIN — The medical man behind community health in St. Mary Parish is concerned with changes to health care emanating from the nation’s capital.
Dr. Gary Wiltz, M.D., CEO of Teche Health, formerly Teche Action Clinic, was the featured speaker Monday at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tribute in Baldwin.
“What’s going on in America right now is wrong. The beginning of the Declaration of Independence states that ‘all men are created equal ... with certain unalienable rights’, well, that phrase is quickly being unraveled.
“And justice for all? Not anymore. Justice for some, but not all. I’m afraid Dr. King’s words, ‘Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane’ still ring true today.”
Wiltz said there is a slow dismantling of everything that progressed health in the country, like reductions in food inspections, changes in vaccination requirements: measles, chicken pox, polio, other ideas like removing fluoride from water, “could spark an outbreak of diseases that we have managed to eradicate over the past four decades. “Y’all saw what COVID did in this country, right? Just wait.”
Wiltz, a native of New Orleans, said he was born in Charity Hospital in the 1960s, when there were separate areas for black and white babies, even for black and white blood donations. A graduate of Tulane Medical School, he said his alma mater had a period of racial history as in its beginnings, the school refused to admit African American students.
He said that when Teche opened its doors in Franklin in the summer of 1974, a group of Tulane Medical Students arrived to treat 250 or so farm workers and of that group, only 10 were in perfect health.
He joined Teche in 1982 as its medical director and today, is CEO over eight clinics, two school-based clinics and three health care mobile units.
Teche is Louisiana’s first community health center. The nonprofit corporation receives part of its funding from the federal government, and it operates by treating their patients on a sliding fee scale basis.
In 2025, Teche clinics had a total of over 60,000 patient encounters. Its goal is to become the primary medical home for its patients, while teaching them preventable medicine.
“That ole saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure still holds true today,” he said. “I hope folks are getting good information about their health from reliable trusted sources, and not the internet or TikTok or listening to craziness. The flu shot cannot give you the flu. The shot to combat shingles will not give you shingles. These vaccines have all been tested by science.”
The community health doc believes when it comes to health, everyone should pick up the mantra, “No one is going to save us but us.”
He encouraged attendees to monitor their blood pressure and if they’re diabetic or on cholesterol medicine, to check those readings.
“The correct way to take your blood pressure is to sit down with both feet planted on the floor, no talking, and no coffee ... and hopefully it will read 120/80, or close to these numbers, which are now considered the new norm.”
He said the hemoglobin A1C test can tell you just how well you are controlling your diabetes. An A1C reading of 7.0 or less indicates that your blood sugar control is probably quite good.
The Baldwin Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee was in charge of the program that featured Wiltz. Elder Leroy Willis of Hines Memorial Temple Church in Baldwin is the chairman. He said having Wiltz as this year’s speaker was crucial.
“Sixty-one years ago Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. set out to address the issue of the inequalities of health care. Decades later, President Obama passed the Affordable Health Care Act, which leveled the playing field for health care in America, and it gave millions of Americans access to coverage for a core set of needed health benefits, designed to provide access to comprehensive care,” Wiltz said.
“But after President Obama left office, the federal government has tried numerous times to repeal it, which if it occurs, will set America back in the ability to provide quality comprehensive health care.”
Wiltz said that nationwide, community health centers like Teche care for 52 million patients annually at over 17,000 locations nationwide.
He said the government has tried to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act at least 100 times. He also noted that while Obama passed the Affordable Health Care Act in 2010, Louisiana didn’t accept its Medicaid expansion until 2016, when John Bel Edwards became governor, because his predecessor, Bobby Jindal, refused to allow the law to be legal in the state.
“During the first years of having the ACH in Louisiana, Teche saw incredible results. Eighty percent of our uninsured patient load went down to less than 10. And we were able to screen folks for all types of cancer, saving many lives,” Wiltz said.
After this past year of a new presidential administration, Wiltz believes he will not see the changes in health care that America needs in order for health care for all to occur.
“Health care needs to be recognized as a human right, and not a privilege. Whom you elect to office matters, it really matters. Our federal and state leaders have a lot to answer for. Policy matters. They need to ask themselves, am I really doing everything that I can do as an individual? In my community?”