000161 Visit since
The first Health Department was founded
in 1930. Dr. Jesús Soto Granados, a representative
from Mexico City, was sent to Puerto Vallarta to take
charge of the new offices. The offices were installed
on the top floor of the building of La Salud Pharmacy.
Dr. Soto’s assistants were Polo Robles in Jesús
Palacios.
In 1936, Dr. Carlos Alcocer took
over Dr. Soto's position. His assistant was nurse María
de Hernández. After only a year in Vallarta,
Doctor Alcocer went back to México City due to
health problems. His successor was Doctor Luis Romero
Arias from Guadalajara City. Dr. Romero’s assistant
was nurse María Sánchez Llanes, from Guadalajara.
She moved to Vallarta after she was hired as a physician
assistant. Dr. Romero married Anita Ortega, a beautiful
girl from Mascota shortly after his arrival. Unfortunately,
Doctor Romero became ill and could not continue working
any longer. This caused a temporary closure of the Health
Department.
A new government started in México.
The new President was General Manuel Avila Camacho.
Doctor Gustavo González was named the new head
of the Health Department. Doctor González and
his wife, Carmelita, were from Mascota.
The first location of the Health
clinic was on 67 Morelos Street.
The new clinic moved across the street
within a year. The two buildings were property of Don
Sebastián Arreola. Doctor González trained
his own assistants, who included local Physician Assistants
Juan González, Porfirio Espadas and Josefina
Cortés. Josefina, better known as Chepina (short
name for Josefina), learned the job fast and became
a skilled nurse. She was an intelligent woman, very
active, responsible, and with high desires to excel.
She found the path that God had drawn for her in the
nursing profession. She was one of the first women in
Vallarta who worked outside her home.
The jurisdiction covered the areas
of Ameca River to the municipality of Cabo Corrientes
(Cape Currents), which at that time was part of Puerto
Vallarta’s government.
In 1945, Señor Rodolfo Rendón
Marrufo took over the male nurse positions left by Juan
González and Porfirio Espadas. Señor Rendón
remained in Vallarta for many years. He was a loyal
employee of the Health Department.
In continuing with my narration of
the development of the Health Department in Puerto Vallarta,
I feel it is necessary to write about all the changes
that occurred in the Department. Dr. Gustavo González
died in 1947. Doctor Rafael Briseño was his successor.
Doctor Briseño made a lot of necessary changes
within the Department. More services were added in order
to keep up with the fast moving pace of Vallarta.
The new medical offices of Doctor
Briseño were located adjacent to his house where
Las Margaritas restaurant is at present.
After a few years, Briseño
moved the medical offices to the corner of Hidalgo and
Galeana streets. He named Dr. José María
Guillén his successor.
Guillén was head of the clinic
during 19 years. Vallarta started developing fast and
soon a new clinic was needed. The new Health Center
facility was built with the help of the State government,
the City Hall, the Agrarians and people from our Community.
The Board of Directors named Doctor José María
Guillén, President, Salvador Solórzano
Forbes, Treasurer, Professor Sergio Rodríguez,
Treasurer, and Council Members Alfredo Villarreal and
Engineer Benjamín Baumgarten Joya. The new Health
Center was inaugurated on the first day of April 1960.
Doctor Guillén's new medical
team was Doctor Antonio Sahagún, MD, and Dr.
Agustín López Alcalá, Anesthesiologist.
The two doctors trained a team of registered nurses.
Among the nurses were Felícitas Joya; Socorro
Rodríguez; Refugio Robles; Toña (short
name for Antoinette) Vizcarra; and part-time nurse,
Luz Cerna. Guadalupe Curiel, María Elena Robles
and Paula Cruz joined the nurse team later.
The receptionist was Señorita
Felícitas Mantecón. All the personnel
donated their time.
 |
A group of local people at
Doctor Romero and Anita Ortega's wedding reception.
|
The Federal Government donated all
the equipment for the Health Center and the American
Colony helped with donations through its Committee.
Señor Varian, an American gentleman and a philanthropic,
donated a special battery-generated lamp for the operation
room; pump equipment to draw water from a well, and
a private pavilion with three rooms. His great contribution
helped immensely to the development of the new clinic.
Señor Varian assigned the profits from the pavilion
to pay for general maintenance of the Health center.
Señor Varian died on a plane
crash. To honor his memory, the Health Center named
the pavilion after him. There is still a portrait of
Señor Varian at the entrance of Varian Pavilion.
Doctor Guillén resigned and
Doctor Ernesto Córdova was named new head of
the Health Center. Guillén moved to Guadalajara
City after practicing medicine in Vallarta for 19 years.
Everyone remembers him fondly. His professionalism and
caring for the ill made him unforgettable to many of
us.
Doctor Córdova was in Vallarta
for a short time. Dr. Leocadio Soto Lara, QPD, was his
successor followed by Dr. Efrén Calderón,
MD. Doctor Antonio Topete, MD became the head of the
Health Center.
I must mention the valuable collaboration
of nurse Josefina Cortés, or Chepina. She worked
at the Health Center for over 30 years. Chepina has
been part of the history of medical services in Vallarta.
She gave the best of her life to service the community
and retired quietly in 1973.
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Note: The segments
from the book "Puerto Vallarta en mis Recuerdos"
-both versions- are published in PVMirror.com with the
express authorization of Sra. Yolanda Contreras de Garduño,
co-author of the work and owner of the copyrights thereto.
Any reproduction thereof, partial or total, in any medium
is prohibited.
Note: Distinguished
reader, if you know of any story, anecdote, biography
or event, or if you have any photographs that you feel
should be presented to the world through this section,
or if you know someone we should interview to get more
information on the history of Vallarta, please feel
free to contact us at: editor@pvmirror.com
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