Rosarito Beach Chapter
Rosarito Beach Chapter
Flying Samaritans has four basic missions: primary care, specialty care, education, and emergency care. In our primary care role, Flying Samaritans fly and drive to clinics where they provide non-emergency services such as family medicine, optometry, ophthalmology, audiology, dentistry and dental hygiene, and preventative healthcare. Most patients are in the Mexican population who are ineligible for Mexican Social Security medical care.
The second mission, specialty care, is a cooperative effort to provide specialized care such as surgery and treatment that require medical follow-up. Specialty care is provided at locations such as the Medical Center in San Quintin, a four-hour drive south of Rosarito Beach, where follow-up care is available.
Our third mission is to assist in the education of “pasantes”, Mexican medical and dental graduates interested in gaining practical experience and enhancing their skills by working in close cooperation with our providers at the clinics. Flying Samaritans serve at the invitation of and in close collaboration with Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (Tijuana) providing training vital to their graduate students’ education.
Lastly, to meet medical emergencies, our professionals assist with disaster relief and other critical medical needs of their local community.
Flying Samaritans all-volunteer organization came about as a result of pilot Aileen Saunders Mellott, her son and four friends who were returning from a race in Baja, Mexico, in 1961, and due to bad weather were forced to land. The people of El Rosario, Baja California, Mexico, came to their aid and made them comfortable until the weather cleared and they could resume their trip. Anita “Mama” Espinosa, the proprietor of the local general store (now Mama Espinosa’s Restaurant and well known throughout Baja for great food) was one of the locals who helped feed the group. “Mama Espinosa” died in October 2016 at age 109.
While there, Aileen and her friends observed the poverty and total lack of medical care in the area. The ladies returned to thank the village with gifts and a doctor. The need was so great they started making regular trips. In 1964, Flying Samaritans became an official organization and is now celebrating 55 years of providing medical care to Baja, Mexico residents. For a more detailed history, see www.flyingsamaritans.net.
In February 1994, seven people met informally at the home of Nancy Callison, R.N., who had been involved with Flying Samaritans since 1961, to discuss the possibility of organizing a clinic in Rosarito Beach. More meetings followed and the group grew larger. B.J. Carpenter made a presentation to the International Board of Directors and on December 3 1994, a clinic was sanctioned for the people of Rosarito Beach.
The Mexican family of Luis Menjares, a blind couple whose daughter was confined to a wheelchair, donated their humble private home once a month to accommodate a clinic. In 1995, a local doctor made her hospital facilities available until; once again, an increased caseload required a move to larger quarters. A temporary accommodation was made at Rosarito Cruz Roja Hospital until a centrally located residence was rented and adapted for clinical use. Again, due to increased caseload, that facility became too small and the clinic was moved to its present location.
The primary care clinic ?has helped over 300 patient visits per month, while the hearing and eye clinics provide services to another 50 patients per month. The primary care clinic, which is well located in Rosarito Beach between the two largest cities of Tijuana and Ensenada, provides care to many patients with diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis, in addition to patients with general medical problems from a population of more than 1.5 million.
Health education of our patients is an important focus in our clinic. Since health care is so limited to the Mexican population that we serve, it is important to educate patients on how to live a healthier life, thereby providing them with information and tools to reduce ongoing medical care.