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Our Stories Trusting the Messenger By Maria Carriedo-Ceniceros, MD Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, San Ysidro Health
e were monitoring how COVID-19 was spreading long before it hit the United States, having originated in China around December 2019. There was never a question about whether it was going to hit San Diego, but when. So, we started preparing. In the beginning, there were many unknowns. How do you treat it? How to protect against infection? How was it spreading? As the Chief Medical Officer at San Ysidro Health, I oversee clini - cal services, including medical, dental, and behavioral health—as well as graduate medical education. Annually, we serve more than 100,000 patients in our sites throughout San Diego, with a large majority in the South Bay being Spanish-speaking residents.
Facing The Challenge I remember that right after the U.S. President declared COVID-19 a national emergency on March 13, 2020, our CEO texted us: “Emergency meeting for executives, tomorrow, Sunday morning.” As we sat around the conference table, we knew we had to change the way we provided care for our patients because we were already seeing that our South Bay community was being hit harder than the rest of the county. Dr. Maria Carriedo-Ceniceros of San Ysidro Health at COVID-19 press conference at SD County Admin Building - Sept. 21, 2020 (Photo courtesy Jarrod Valliere / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Dr. Maria Carriedo-Ceniceros (upper left) and colleagues at San Ysidro Health endorsing California Governor’s “shelter-in-place mandate” to reduce contracting COVID-19 – March 31, 2020 (Photo courtesy – San Ysidro Health)
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San Diego Latino Legacy – Timeline • Milestones • Stories
Chapter 8 – Facing COVID-19
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