ECRMC, Ventanilla de Salud partner
EL CENTRO – El Centro Regional Medical Center and the Mexican Consulate in Calexico announced on Wednesday a joint partnership to help expand the consulate’s Ventanilla de Salud program.
The preventive care program promotes healthy living and well-being through its educational outreach efforts, health screenings and referrals, and has operated in the Valley for many years.
The entities’ partnership will build on Ventanilla de Salud’s past practices and identify areas of improvement in order to reach a wider audience and further help reduce emergency care services, said Consul Tarcisio Navarrete Montes de Oca.
“We’re a small consulate, but we can do great things,” Navarrete said.
The program is a component of all the Mexican government’s 50 consulates in the United States, and primarily targets the Latino community, which has high incident rates of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Navarette’s remarks came during a press conference at ECRMC, where Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Adolphe Edward also spoke highly of the new partnership.
Going forward, stakeholders will meet to assess the healthcare needs of the community, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its emerging and concerning trends, the program’s achievements to date, as well as to potentially establish new goals, Edward said.
The assessment should enhance the program’s capacity to change the health outcomes of Valley residents for the better, and provide a better perspective of the program’s cost and efficiency.
“We know that we’re going to achieve more by working together side by side to get to new heights,” Adolphe said.
In recent years, the Ventanilla de Salud program has on average reached between 15,000 to 30,000 local individuals with its efforts, said Mario Beltran Mainero, consul for community and political affairs.
It has done so by organizing and attending various health fairs, visiting schools to educate children about healthy lifestyles and promote physical activities, providing vaccinations and health-related information.
“Our basic job is to go out to the community and promote our services and let them know we are there for them,” said Adriana Buelna, program coordinator.
Staff members perform a limited number of health screenings, such as checking blood pressure and glucose levels, and will refer individuals to health care providers for more serious matters.
Though the program was created to provide services for Mexican nationals residing in the United States, its services are accessible to any recently arrived immigrant. Recently, the program has assisted asylum applicants who have been sheltered in the Valley seek out medical services, Buelna said.
Previously, Ventanilla de Salud had established similar partnerships with the Calexico Chamber of Commerce and with Pioneers Memorial Hospital.
“We could not be prouder of our relationship with the Mexican government and particularly with the Mexican consulate,” said El Centro Mayor and ECRMC board member Efrain Silva. “I look forward to a long and lasting relationship.”