Velasco Elected Director-at-Large for Association of Nurses in AIDS Care 

Anthony Velasco was reluctant to accept when the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) approached him about joining its board of directors. Even though he is a founder and current president of the Palm Springs chapter, he wondered if he had impostor syndrome. His colleagues knew better, as they elected Anthony Director-At-Large with the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC).   

ANAC is made up of more than 40 chapters located around the world with over 2,200 members from 60 countries. Members include social workers, pharmacists, physician assistants, lawyers, and doctors from around the world committed to HIV/AIDS nursing.  

“ANAC is such a great venue to really connect with other people and see what they’re doing and compare what we’re doing,” Anthony says. “It’s so awesome to hear about the research being done on the national level and to see how it could potentially be applied at DAP Health.” 

Anthony, who chairs DAP Health’s Transgender Health Program, says the synergy helps both organizations.  

“I’ve told ANAC about the work we do at DAP Health and the great interdisciplinary culture we have here, including social work, community health, medical, and mental health,” he says.  

DAP Health provides holistic, compassionate, and comprehensive care.  

Anthony believes that DAP Health’s approach to care should be the model everywhere. This includes culturally competent care for transgender patients he serves, and more opportunities for nurses of color.  

While Filipinos make up about 20 percent of the nursing population in California, Anthony wants them to reach into leadership, research, and academia. (U.S. Census Bureau) 

He remembers noticing that there were never Filipino professors teaching his nursing classes as he completed his undergraduate and graduate school degrees in California. 

“Representation is one of the motivations I have,” Anthony says. “If a young Filipino nurse entering the field sees someone who looks like them in a leadership position, they will know that they can be in that position someday.”   

He provides compassionate care to people living with and without HIV. Caring about people who need special care does not stop there for Anthony.  

He provides comprehensive gender-affirming care and works to create more access to safe and gender-affirming spaces for all. At DAP Health and elsewhere, he has improved the health care experiences of many transgender patients in the Inland Empire.   

He belongs to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).  

Anthony is passionate about global health equity and has served on medical missions in Haiti and Honduras. Annually he gives his time and talent in the Philippines with Global Health Force, a non-profit organization providing access to free health care in underserved communities around the world.   

A Nurse Practitioner and credentialed HIV Specialist at DAP Health, Anthony has been working in HIV care since 2010. He is pursuing his doctorate in nursing at the University of Colorado.