Doctors visits can be intimidating, especially if there’s a language barrier.But for the last three years, several communities across California have been receiving health services in Spanish.Five years since Alma Rosa Alvarado Cedeño arrived in Salinas, California, she said she’s found comfort and assurance at Clínica de Salud del Valle de Salinas.”You come afraid that doctors won’t understand you,” Alvarado Cedeño told KCRA 3.The Federally Qualified Health Center is part of a pilot program bringing licensed physicians from Mexico to California to help close critical language and health gaps among farmworkers and disadvantaged communities.”While they’re here, they’re creating unbelievable access for people who have never seen a doctor or seldom see a doctor because of the language and cultural differences,” said Arnoldo Torres, political and policy consultant on Latino issues.With over three decades of providing health services in Mexico, Dr. Eva Perusquía has worked as an internist in the Salinas clinic since 2021.”This is something that gives us the opportunity to get a better approach with the people and to bring them not only the opportunity of having better health services but also to develop some prevention in health,” said Perusquía, who came to the Golden State amid a physician shortage.And when it comes to Spanish-speaking doctors, the challenge is even bigger.”For every 3,500 people, there’s only one physician. That’s too many people,” said Dr. Maximiliano Cuevas, CEO of Clínica de Salud del Valle de Salinas.While Latinos make up 39% of California’s population, they only make up 6.4% of physicians.Dr. Perusquía is one of 26 health professionals from Mexico working in California on a three-year work visa.”We developed the program to recruit from Spanish-speaking, bicultural physicians, and we found a source in Mexico City to be able to do that,” explained Dr. Cuevas.And the pilot program is expanding.The expansion of the pilot has come nearly two decades since its approval, today, all doctors must meet strict standards, including completing a residency in a medical school or hospital in California, having English fluency, and being vetted by the Medical Board of California.”So when you’re board certified, that means that you’ve spent more time studying your profession and your specific specialty, and so you’re able to meet a higher standard of care,” Torres said, adding that in the early 2000s, there was a lot of skepticism about the capabilities of Mexican doctors.The participating nonprofit Community Health Centers are:AltaMedAltura Centers for HealthClínica de Salud del Valle de SalinasSan Benito Health FoundationIn July, a delegation of recruiters from Mexico visited clinics where their doctors are working to plan how to expand into more than a dozen clinics and bring 95 additional doctors.The result? Access to health care has skyrocketed.”I come here with more confidence because I already know the doctors and I have more trust because they speak the same language,” Alvarado Cedeño said.The program’s first doctors will be replaced by 2026.Four of the new clinics where they’ll be placed are in northern California.”The patients are loving it. When we do satisfaction surveys, patients are 10,000% satisfied,” Dr. Cuevas said. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
Doctors visits can be intimidating, especially if there’s a language barrier.
But for the last three years, several communities across California have been receiving health services in Spanish.
Five years since Alma Rosa Alvarado Cedeño arrived in Salinas, California, she said she’s found comfort and assurance at Clínica de Salud del Valle de Salinas.
“You come afraid that doctors won’t understand you,” Alvarado Cedeño told KCRA 3.
The Federally Qualified Health Center is part of a pilot program bringing licensed physicians from Mexico to California to help close critical language and health gaps among farmworkers and disadvantaged communities.
“While they’re here, they’re creating unbelievable access for people who have never seen a doctor or seldom see a doctor because of the language and cultural differences,” said Arnoldo Torres, political and policy consultant on Latino issues.
With over three decades of providing health services in Mexico, Dr. Eva Perusquía has worked as an internist in the Salinas clinic since 2021.
“This is something that gives us the opportunity to get a better approach with the people and to bring them not only the opportunity of having better health services but also to develop some prevention in health,” said Perusquía, who came to the Golden State amid a physician shortage.
And when it comes to Spanish-speaking doctors, the challenge is even bigger.
“For every 3,500 people, there’s only one physician. That’s too many people,” said Dr. Maximiliano Cuevas, CEO of Clínica de Salud del Valle de Salinas.
While Latinos make up 39% of California’s population, they only make up 6.4% of physicians.
Dr. Perusquía is one of 26 health professionals from Mexico working in California on a three-year work visa.
“We developed the program to recruit from Spanish-speaking, bicultural physicians, and we found a source in Mexico City to be able to do that,” explained Dr. Cuevas.
And the pilot program is expanding.
The expansion of the pilot has come nearly two decades since its approval, today, all doctors must meet strict standards, including completing a residency in a medical school or hospital in California, having English fluency, and being vetted by the Medical Board of California.
“So when you’re board certified, that means that you’ve spent more time studying your profession and your specific specialty, and so you’re able to meet a higher standard of care,” Torres said, adding that in the early 2000s, there was a lot of skepticism about the capabilities of Mexican doctors.
The participating nonprofit Community Health Centers are:
In July, a delegation of recruiters from Mexico visited clinics where their doctors are working to plan how to expand into more than a dozen clinics and bring 95 additional doctors.
The result? Access to health care has skyrocketed.
“I come here with more confidence because I already know the doctors and I have more trust because they speak the same language,” Alvarado Cedeño said.
The program’s first doctors will be replaced by 2026.
Four of the new clinics where they’ll be placed are in northern California.
“The patients are loving it. When we do satisfaction surveys, patients are 10,000% satisfied,” Dr. Cuevas said.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
