July 1, 2011 marked Dr. Pereira’s 25th anniversary at Mariposa. To recognize Dr. Pereira for his countless contributions to Mariposa, our patients and our community, a reception was held in his honor. Mariposa’s Board of Directors, providers and leadership team gathered to honor “Dr. P” and express their collective appreciation for his dedication, leadership and service. (Picture: Dr. Pereira receives 25th Anniversary Recognition Plaque Award from Mariposa's Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jim Welden).

Dr. Pereira was the first physician recruited after Mariposa became a private corporation in 1986 and was the anchor and drive behind the Health Center’s growing adult medicine department.

Dr. Pereira’s leadership and respect in the medical community were well established when in 1998, he accepted the extremely challenging position of Chief of Medical Staff and Clinical Programs. For the past 13 years, Dr. Pereira has bridged the disciplines of clinical medicine and management and has been a critical member of the Leadership Team. Thank you Dr. Pereira for your dedication to Mariposa and our patients!

On June 15, members of the staff, board, guests and the community were joined by special guest Mayor Arturo Garino in celebrating the opening of Mariposa‘s beautiful new WIC building. The new WIC facility represents a wonderful addition to the program and to the Health Center campus. Following welcoming remarks by Board President, Judith Claremon, Mr. Welden, CEO, commented that “for more than 31 years, the WIC program has been pivotal to Mariposa’s dedication to improving the lives of at-risk mothers and children in Santa Cruz County”. Mr. Welden also gave special recognition to Olivia Torres, WIC Manager, for her dedication to the program over her 30 years at Mariposa.

Mayor Garino expressed a true appreciation to the program and offered the city’s continued support in the future. Karen Sell, Chief, Bureau of Nutrition and Physical Activity from the Arizona Department of Health Services, congratulated the Board and staff on the new site. Ms. Sell added “On behalf of the Arizona Department of Health Services, we look forward to working with Mariposa for many more years to provide essential services that make such a positive difference in the lives of women and children in this community”!

On Friday, May 27th, the Arizona-Mexico Commission presented Mariposa Community Health Center with the annual Senator Andy Nichols, MD Award. The award is in recognition of Dr. Nichols’ contributions to improve the quality of life in the Arizona – Mexico border region. Mariposa was recognized for our commitment to excellence in health care. Molly Anderson, MD, a Nichols family friend, received the award from Governor Brewer on behalf of Mariposa. In receiving the award, Dr. Anderson commented that “Mariposa’s foundation is predicated on the conviction that health care is a basic right, not a privilege. Like Dr. Nichols, we also believe that creating a healthy community is not only heavily dependent on all of our neighbors having access to high quality medical and dental care, but it also involves forging community partnerships and developing innovative, community-based education and outreach services that target such things as chronic disease, fitness and nutrition, leadership and personal and community empowerment”.

Summer Youth Institute
June 6 – July 21, 2011
The Summer Youth Institute (SYI) is an annual, seven week summer education and training program for high school students in Santa Cruz County. SYI students receive training in Tobacco Basic Skills, HIV/AIDS education, First Aid CPR, Diabetes, Self-Esteem, Leadership Development, etc. The training also allows students to receive a Teen Health Facilitator certification, enabling them to conduct peer education in their community.
Mariposa established SYI in 2002 through the collaboration of various community organizations such as Gear Up, The University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension, The Nogales Police Department, the University of Arizona College of Public Health, the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the UA College of Medicine, Rio Rico Fire Department and Safeway to name a few.
Mariposa selects between 20-24 high school students in Santa Cruz County each year. Students must submit an application consisting of a personal statement, a record of extracurricular activities, high school transcript and recommendation letters.
This year, we had a total of 109 applicants and selected 24 for the program.
Since its establishment, over 244 high school students in Santa Cruz County have participated in the Summer Youth Institute. Many of these students have attended public and private universities around the country and have been the recipient of prestigious scholarship awards.

On Tuesday, June 7th, Mariposa Community Health Center staff, the Board of Directors and community were joined by special guest Congressman Raul Grijalva in celebrating the opening of Mariposa’s beautiful new dental clinic in Rio Rico.   Judith Claremon, Mariposa’s Board President, provided opening comments and welcomed those in attendance.  Mr. Welden, Chief Executive Officer,  recognized the Health Center's Dental Department Director, Dr. John Betz, for his invaluable leadership, in not only creating a state of the art dental program in Nogales, but now in Rio Rico as well. Mr. Welden also recognized our dentists: Dr. Patel, Dr. Allen, Dr. Gonzalez and Dr. Dols, plus the dental assistants and support staff for their extraordinary contributions to making Mariposa’s dental program truly outstanding. Congressman Raul Grijalva's gave a truly eloquent and inspiring speech and later joined Mariposa CHC members in the ribbon cutting ceremony. (Pictured: Jim Welden, CEO, Dr. Michael Allen, Dr. Frank Gonzalez, Dr. John Betz, Dr. Swati Patel, Ms. Judith Claremon, President of the Board of Directors and Congressman Raul Grijalva).

The 13th Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure took place on Sunday, April 10, 2011 at Reid Park in Tucson Arizona. Mariposa Community Health Center once again participated with the Mariposas in Action team. This year, the team consisted of 30 members, 10 were Mariposa Community Health Center employees and 16 were breast cancer survivors! The 5K walk was a great opportunity to raise funds and bring survivors together, help raise awareness on breast cancer and also raise funds for the Foundation's continued support for research and grant programs. Thank you to all of you who supported us this year. Mariposa Community Health Center also provided an educational booth at the event. Over 15,000 people attended this event. 

For more information contact our Platicamos Salud Dept. at (520) 281-2860.

The National Healthy Start Spring Conference was held in Washington, D.C. on  March 7-9, 2011. Healthy Start recognized Congressman Raul Grijalva for his continued support of maternal and child services at the national level. For two years in a row, Congressman Grijalva has agreed to sponsor/co-sponsor the Healthy Start reauthorization bill in Congress, which provides the funding for the national prenatal program. Because our Healthy Start program is located in Congressman Grijalva's district, Mariposa Community Health Center's Healthy Start Program was asked to present him with the award in front of the 102 Healthy Start Programs! Pictured are Healthy Start staff from Mariposa Community Health Center's Platicamos Salud department and consumers from the South Phoenix Healthy Start Program. The Mariposa Community Health Center's Healthy Start Program provides health education services to pregnant women and children up to twenty-four months throughout Santa Cruz County. There are two Healthy Start programs in the state of Arizona.  For information (520) 281-1550 or (520) 281-2860.

Love Them, Protect Them, Immunize Them  ..........

Mariposa Community Health Center leads the National Infant Immunization Campaign in Santa Cruz County.

1n 1994, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared National Infant Immunization Week,  the week of April 23-30, 2011 to focus attention nationally on the importance of immunizing and protecting children 24 months and younger from vaccine preventable diseases.



Mariposa Community Health Center offered two Immunization Clincs in Santa Cruz County:

In Nogales:
On Tuesday, April 26
At the Mariposa CHC Family Resource Center
Located at 441 N Grand Avenue, Suite 12
from 1:30 pm to 4:00pm

In Rio Rico:
On Thursday, April 28
At the Mariposa CHC Family Resource Center
Located at 1103 E. Circulo Mercado
1:00 to 4:00pm

Frequently Asked Questions:
Who can receive the vaccinations?  Youth from the ages 0 to 18.
What is the cost of the vaccinations? They are Free of Charge.
What should I bring?  Your Childs Immunization Record.

We are very proud to announce that Susan Kunz, Director of our Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program, recently received  The Community-Based Participatory Research Best Practices Award on behalf of the University of Arizona Prevention Research Center. The Arizona Prevention Research Center was one of only eleven centers to receive the award this first year. Mariposa Community Health Center is a partner with the University of Arizona's College of Public Health's Prevention Research Center. In the picture is Ms. Kunz, serving in both capacities (as the award recipient and as the National Community Committee's Vice Chair) along with Scott Carvajal (right), Director of the Arizona Prevention Research Center and Antonio Tovar (center), Chair of the National Community Committee.

We are very proud to announce that Blanca Andrade (left) and Joyce Latura (right) were recognized by the "Mano Amiga" organization for their dedication in assisting the most vulnerable groups at the Nogales Arizona/Sonora border. Joyce Latura, Manager at Platicamos Salud is also in charge of the Domestic Violence and Marguerite Casey Foundation programs. She also teaches citizenship classes to community residents. Blanca Andrade, is a Promotora de Salud for the Healthy Start, Health Start and First Things First programs. Ms. Andrade provides assessment and health education through home visits with pregnant women and new mothers to help them raise healthy children. Program information includes safety, nutrition and child development guidance. For more information, please call Platicamos Salud (Health Promotion & Disease Prevention) Department at (520) 375-6050