COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER:
For the Border City of Nogales,
Arizona, Telemedicine
Is a ‘Win-Win’
M
ariposa Community Health Center got
its start in 1980 as a small clinic in
Nogales, Arizona. It has grown over the years
to be the largest provider of medical, dental
and community-based health promotion and
disease prevention services on the ArizonaMexico border.
And in 1997, the clinic expanded its reach by
becoming the first clinical site to link to the
Arizona Telemedicine Program.
Welden, left,
alth Center CEO Jim
iposa Community He
Mar
Eladio Pereira, MD
and Medical Director
For some Nogales families, driving to Tucson to see a
doctor is easy. For others, it’s impossible. Telemedicine
has enhanced health care for both.
6
The decision was not a no-brainer. For many
Nogales families, going to see a doctor in
Tucson, 60 miles away, was a fun family outing,
with lunch and shopping on the side. But for
many others, the transportation logistics were
next to impossible. For them, telemedicine
would be a godsend.
But there were questions about how well it
would work.