Mexico sending doctors to Monterey County

UPDATE 6/3/2016 6 PM:

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, in California there are 262 active physicians for every 100,000 people. Data shows the state fares better than more than half the country, but there’s still a gap in meeting the need.

There’s a new program bringing doctors from Mexico to Monterey County, and it’s all about meeting the growing need for health care in the community.

Starting in January, eight licensed physicians from Mexico are moving to Monterey County to work for Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas. They’re expected to serve an estimated 20,000 more people, which could help fill the gap caused by an aging population and the implementation of Obamacare. Because there are more people insured, more doctors are needed.

“We have a gap here in terms of enough medical doctors here to see a patient, especially in rural areas and under-served communities throughout the state,” said Monterey County Supervisor Simon Salinas.

Salinas and Supervisor Fernando Armenta have been working with the Mexican government to bring these doctors over for a three-year stay. They’ll be helping in the fields of internal medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology. The doctors will also speak the same language as the people they will care for.

“A physician with a similar background who can understand the thought process, in terms of expressing their illnesses, their symptoms and their signs,” said Dr. Maximilano Cuevas. “So it’s huge for equality. We bypass an interpreter who can miss some of the communication. So we consider this extremely important and that was the reason we wanted to bring in the physicians from Mexico.”

Translators for 15 different dialects are already available at Natividad Medical Center, but some believe that doesn’t replace one-on-one communication.

“Bring them here,” one patient said. “There’s a lot of people in the community who can’t speak the language. If they have trouble introducing themselves to the doctor and making appointments. An interpreter helps but it helps speaking in your own language.”

ORIGINAL POST:

Monterey County is turning to Mexico to help address growing health care needs in the community. Beginning in January of 2017, eight visiting doctors from Mexico will provide medical services at Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas and the county-operated Natividad Medical Center in Salinas.

Tonight at 5, KION’s Mariana Hicks will explain how the program will work, and how many patients are expected to benefit.