Focus on Cardiology at AltaMed

As AltaMed’s Cardiology Physician Champion, Cynthia Gonzalez, M.D. is essential to bringing accessible, quality cardiology care to underserved communities.

Her position was created to support the new cardiology service line that AltaMed started in 2022 to offer in-clinic heart health evaluations and screenings for patients.

In 2024 alone, AltaMed providers have made 1,200 referrals to our internal cardiologist and over 8,000 to external cardiologists—highlighting the need for cardiology services. Over the last two years, Dr. Gonzalez has helped develop a training curriculum for AltaMed physicians—bringing in expert cardiologists to increase provider knowledge of structural heart disease, appropriate referrals, and other cardiovascular topics with funding from Edwards Life Sciences Foundation. Since December 2022, this program has helped educate 146 doctors.

As a first-generation Mexican American raised by a single mother, Dr. Cynthia Gonzalez overcame many challenges common in minority communities and is passionate about mentoring Latinas pursuing a medical career.

“Bringing cardiology resources to our communities is essential for improving health equity,” says Dr. Gonzalez.

She shares her experience as the cardiology physician champion, “It’s rewarding to learn alongside my colleagues to identify and treat cardiovascular conditions in areas where resources are limited.”

Dr. Gonzalez has also helped integrate cardiology care at AltaMed’s Pico Passons clinic, which now offers in-clinic cardiologist evaluations and diagnostics to increase the number of comprehensive heart health evaluations and screenings for patients at AltaMed.

Dr. Gonzalez celebrated her 4-year anniversary at AltaMed Health Services this year. She earned her medical degree and an MBA from the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine in 2017. She completed her family medicine residency program at Long Beach Memorial in 2020.