At age 18, Barbara Staggers ’76, M.P.H. ’80 had an epiphany that would set the course of her career. First, when she was teaching at a summer youth program in Hayward, California, a man drove up to take a 14-year-old-girl in Staggers’ class and put her to work on the streets. When staff demanded parental consent, the man phoned the girl’s mother, whose response was, “Let her go, we need the money.” A few months later Staggers’ uncle dropped dead of a heart attack in an emergency room because the receptionist was more concerned with payment than treatment.
That one-two punch taught Staggers that people of color — and teens in particular — face tremendous barriers in staying healthy. “After that,” she says, “I never wanted to do anything else but adolescent health care.”
Staggers piled up the diplomas, including an M.D. at UC San Francisco, and joined the staff at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, where she has been director of adolescent medicine for 18 years.
Under her guidance, Children’s Hospital Oakland established cutting-edge programs for high-risk youth, including health clinics at two schools in Oakland and at Alameda County Juvenile Hall. Taking health care to teenagers is critical, says Staggers, 53, a married mother of three. “By the time teens come to see me at the hospital, there’s usually a lot happening. You can do much more preventive work outside a medical setting.”
Staggers has been widely honored for her work, including a Peter E. Haas Public Service Award and the School of Public Health Alumna of the Year. She will serve the as 2008-09 president of the medical staff at Children’s Hospital Oakland, and in April she’ll receive the Regional Health Care Champions Award from the School of Public Health.
“I’ve seen teens who have had horrible things happen to them get their J.D. or Ph.D., and do great things in the community. You can’t put a price on life, but when you make a difference and they say, ‘Thank you,’ that’s worth a lot.”
