CVS

Family Healthcare Legacy Drives Chicago Pharmacy Leader's Community Focus

This Filipino American is passionate about expanding health care to under served communities.

NBC Universal, Inc.

As a district leader and pharmacist at CVS health, Michelle Beltran continues her family’s long legacy of providing healthcare to the community. 

"My grandma's a doctor, I have uncles that are doctors, my mom's a nurse, my aunts are nurses," Beltran said. "I come from a line of healthcare. I knew I wanted to be a pharmacist since the third grade actually."

Beltran graduated both high school and college early, and finished her doctorate in pharmacy in 2012 at UIC.

"My mom talks about me all the time," she said, "and I’m always embarrassed of what she says when I’m around, but proud parents!"

Beltran runs pharmacies in Hyde Park and Little Village, reaching communities hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. She is especially proud of her team and how they handled that stressful time.

"This year and a half has been very challenging," Beltran said. "They are trailblazers themselves. … They get right back up and they do what they need to do for their family, for their patients, for their customers and for themselves."

Beltran gets her​ strength from her grandmother, Dr. Violeta Beltran, who created a scrapbook of patients she kept in touch with. 

"Coming from the Philippines to America, because she had to deal with no car, going from tropical weather to the snow. She dealt with cultural differences."

She is also really proud of her mom, who is a retired nurse. Wiping tears from her eyes, she explains, "My mom is everything to me. Worked three jobs. I just want to make my parents proud. I hope I did."

It's obvious that helping community is her passion. 

"Being Filipino, proud, very proud," Beltran said. "Proud of my ancestry, proud of my family and proud of my grandma, my mom. ... I do it because of them as well."

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