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Dr. Erica Ceballos had been working at the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social in Tijuana for nine years when she applied for a program that allowed Mexican doctors to practice in underserved areas in California.
Three years later, she was celebrating alongside her San Benito Health Foundation colleagues and community members at the 24th Binational Health Week in Hollister.
“Patients began to be informed that a Mexican doctor was going to start seeing patients,” she said at the Oct.16 event at the Health Foundation. “And since then, my schedule has been full every day.”
Kate Wilbur, director of development, said each of the eight Health Foundation doctors can see up to 30 patients a day. The staff includes a pediatrician, a dentist and an ophthalmologist.
Ceballos joined San Benito Health Foundation in March 2021 through AB 1045, which was signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis in 2002. Since her arrival, she has been joined by four other doctors at the Hollister site.
AB 1045, known as the Licensed Physicians and Dentists from Mexico Pilot Program, created a pathway for 30 licensed physicians and 30 dentists to work at nonprofit community health centers in underserved areas for up to three years.
Ceballos said there are doctors in the program serving in Tulare, Salinas and Los Angeles.
According to the bill, the program was created in response to “critical and dangerous” physician shortages leading up to 2001, especially with the “lack of Latino medical students and licensed physicians in proportion to their population in California.”
It notes that 41% of the population in California is Latino. And in San Benito County, Latinos make up 62% of the population.
Dr. Maria Luisa Vargas said having doctors and patients share the same cultural background provides a human aspect to the effective delivery of health services. Both doctors said they mostly speak in Spanish when providing care to their patients.
“That’s what they are trying to find in a physician,” she said. “The warmth, to be seen by someone who can understand their situation, the whole picture.”
Vargas said patients may be more inclined to share with her about family issues that impact their health.
“You are more empathetic with the patients,” she said. “That’s something that always characterized the Mexican or Latino American physicians.”
Vargas is a naturalized Mexican who was born in Colombia. She spent about 13 years in Mexico before joining the San Benito Health Foundation in 2022.
Vargas and Ceballos said they joined the AB 1045 program to help underserved communities.
“Our patients need to know that we want to be here, we want to help this community,” Ceballos said.
Vargas said San Benito Health Foundation offers some of its resources at a sliding fee including mammograms, pap smears and access to medicine at a lower cost.
“It’s important to note that here at San Benito Health Foundation anybody who wants to be a patient can,” Wilbur said. “We see people with insurance, without. Anybody that walks through the door and needs care and wants to join the foundation as a patient is more than welcome to.”
Wilbur said as a result of the great work by AB 1045 providers, San Benito Health Foundation has been recognized by the Health Resources and Services Administration with a silver medal as a Health Center Quality leader, a health care access enhancer and health disparities reducer.
“Not only have the doctors enriched the quality of care but also the types of care that we are able to offer our patients and they are being recognized for it because they are doing such a wonderful job,” she said.
While Ceballos was in her last year, she now plans to continue to serve another three years in Hollister as a result of a bill in September which provides a three-year extension to certain physicians.
24th Binational Health Week
The Binational Health Week was instituted in 2001 by the Mexican government in conjunction with the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. It is one of the largest Latino health initiatives in North America.
In addition to spotlighting the program and its doctors, the San Benito Health Foundation honored four community members—Longina Montoya, Noe Montoya, Dr. Armando Ruiz Medina and Dr. Roberto Dansie —by including their image on the exterior of the mobile clinic.
The Health Foundation also presented Emilia Banuelos Rojas with a picture of the Virgen Campesina (showing the Virgin Mary as a farmer) for her 101st birthday. On Oct. 15, the city of Hollister also recognized Rojas for her longtime community involvement.
Among the speakers were San Benito Health Foundation President and CEO Rosa Vivian Fernández, San Jose’s Consul General of Mexico Alejandra Maria Gabriela Bologna, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and Andres Rodriguez from the office of Assemblymember Robert Rivas.
Community members joined the celebration and heard live music and had the opportunity to visit informational tables featuring organizations such as Youth Alliance, Central California Alliance for Health, YMCA, and Suicide Prevention Service of the Central Coast.
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