Amanda Aguirre: Building at the Border to Revolutionize Rural Healthcare
Former Arizona State Senator and longtime nonprofit health leader reflects on public service, policy wins, and the collective vision that’s transforming rural health in southern Arizona through quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare options like the San Luis Medical Mall and planned San Luis Community Hospital.
When Amanda Aguirre first moved to Yuma, Arizona in 1987, she was stunned by what she saw. While the population was rapidly growing, she witnessed severe gaps in healthcare access, especially for the Hispanic population throughout south Yuma County, just miles from the U.S. Mexico border.
“I couldn’t believe that in the most powerful and richest country in the world, people were dying from diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. The children were not immunized,” said Aguirre. “For me, it was just unbelievable. So from the moment I moved here, I dedicated basically all my life to be able to address that gap.”
Aguirre’s path to public health
Aguirre earned her B.S. in Chemistry and while earning her M.S. in Nutrition from California State University (CSU), she worked as a lab researcher in CSU’s Minority Biomedical Research Program. During her graduate studies, she pursued an internship (University Affiliated Program-Center for Children with Development Disabilities) with the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
After graduation, Aguirre joined the South Central Regional Center for Developmental Disabilities and later transitioned to the Public Health Foundation – Women, Infant, and Children Program (WIC). These roles would spark her lifelong interest in making a difference in the world of Public Health.
Putting down roots in Yuma, AZ
Aguirre joined the Yuma County Department of Public Health from 1987 to 1991, learning about Yuma County’s public health system over four years serving as Public Health Nutritionist.
Shortly after her time working for the county, she founded and serves as the President and CEO of the non-profit Regional Center for Border Health, Inc. (RCBH) to bring high-quality, affordable healthcare access and workforce education to border towns in rural, southwestern Arizona.
Aguirre also sits on the Southwest Health Engagement and Research Collaborative (SHERC) Advisory Committee, a Center for Community Health and Engaged Research (CHER) initiative aimed to minimize health disparities and increase basic biomedical, clinical, and behavioral health in the southwestern United States.
Since her initial pledge to improve healthcare access for Arizonans, she’s built 17 points of access to care in Yuma, La Paz, and Mojave counties. With more construction on the way and exciting plans to expand care avenues for the future—she’s just getting started.
The People’s Senator
Born in Mexico and the daughter of a Mexican politician and an elementary teacher, Aguirre became the first woman and first Hispanic person elected to represent her district in both the Arizona House and Arizona Senate.
As a Hispanic woman and Democrat , her journey was met with resistance from some community members and colleagues.
After winning her Senate seat, Aguirre was invited to participate in her local Veterans Day Parade. She recalled arriving at the parade to find no vehicle waiting for her, despite being told one would be provided. She weighed her options and considered heading home.
“I’ll walk,” she remembered telling organizers. Wearing her son’s Air Force Academy t-shirt with “Aguirre” stitched on the right pocket, she walked the entire route handing out candy and shaking hands with supporters. Some community members even embraced her, thanking her for being there and congratulating her on winning the election.
“It ended up being the best time I’ve had walking in a parade,” admitted Aguirre. She advised, “you can let those things get you down for a second, but you must stand up and get back out there. That’s what’s so beautiful about life—that you learn and it makes you stronger.”
A cornerstone of Aguirre’s political career pushed a bill through Arizona’s State Senate that would mandate insurance companies to maintain coverage for children diagnosed with Autism. She met with lobbyists of a major insurance company in the area, and through careful conversations, convinced the health insurance company to come to the table and help draft the bill that would guarantee coverage for children with Autism.
Although this bill, named Steven’s Law, was passed in the State Senate under Aguirre, she ultimately transferred authorship of the bill to a Republican colleague to push through the state House of Representatives.
Steven’s Law was passed and signed into law in 2008, guaranteeing healthcare coverage for children with Autism. Although her name isn’t on the bill, her work on the bill is known throughout the state.
“The parents, stakeholders, community, advocates, everybody… they knew it was my bill,” assured Aguirre. “But you don’t do it because it’s going to be your bill. You do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
First steps for the Regional Center for Border Health
Aligning with her research background, Aguirre conducted market research to learn about community needs and inform decisions made by the nonprofit. After researching different areas in southwestern Arizona, her team opened healthcare facilities in Somerton, just 12 miles from the border, finally bringing local primary care options to south Yuma County.
With year-round farming as the county’s main economic driver, much of the available land was designated as farmland, leaving desert options for commercial construction. The desert location confused many stakeholders, but Aguirre assured them of the land’s potential and noted that “[the desert] is where this community will grow. Everything else is locked into farmland.” She began planning for the Medical Mall.
Emphasis on education and community-based participatory research
Ms. Aguirre recalled more than 20 years ago being part of discussions with local Yuma County leaders about the need to bring a four-year higher education institution to Yuma.
In 1995, Aguirre, as a former Satellite Campus Director for Arizona Western College (AWC), stressed the importance of higher education for South Yuma County residents and educational growth, she worked closely with AWC and NAU to establish degree pathways for the region.
Through partnership with NAU’s CHER and the Arizona Biomedical Research Centre (ABRC), a collaborative effort to engage the community and learn about healthcare needs was born.
Stemming from an initial research project between ABRC, NAU, and RCBH that took a community-engaged approach to environmental health research, a yearly forum was created to grant opportunities for healthcare leaders on both sides of the border to collaborate and build the future for cross-border healthcare. Each year, key healthcare leaders receive valuable first-hand feedback in the region and translated to improved, culturally-centered, and community-engaged healthcare. In May 2025, the 7th annual ABRC Workshop in Yuma united healthcare leaders from across the region to bring meaningful, community-based conversations to the table and reimagine what healthcare could look like in Yuma County.
Each year, Aguirre, NAU staff, and workshop participants listen in on the lives of residents and bring ideas back to their teams to improve healthcare outcomes in the region. She evaluates the workshop’s community value each year and comes to the same conclusion:
“[ABRC workshops] are so critical and have become part of the community in Yuma.”
Somerton to San Luis
Almost a decade after opening, the Somerton Medical Complex would reach maximum capacity and plans to expand with a new Medical Mall would become more urgent for the growing county. In response, Aguirre explored neighboring border towns, ultimately considering San Luis, a rich and underdeveloped area directly on the border.
Building better care at the border
San Luis was designated the second fastest-growing city in Arizona between 1990 and 2000. In 2001, Aguirre would build the first permanent, full-time clinic in San Luis, bringing primary care to the families of San Luis.
By 2013, San Luis’s population was around 33,000 and under consideration for the planned Medical Mall. She estimates the population to be closer to 50,000 in 2025, showcasing the community’s growth and supporting numbers that her team projected when choosing the community for RCBH’s expansion.
Seeing the town’s potential and need for local and comprehensive healthcare, Aguirre’s RCBH conducted market analysis to determine which medical services would benefit the community and be sustainable in the long-term without relying on state or federal funding.
In 2015, RCBH successfully constructed the San Luis Medical Mall which now houses medical offices for family wellness, OB/GYN, behavioral health, outpatient surgery, and urgent care, all interconnected in one central location.
“The Medical Mall has had incredible synergy. When we broke ground, it was just desert. And now, there are over 3000 homes surrounding us, [and] an industrial park that continues to grow. They’re building schools; they’re building a fire station.”
Today, local schools are winning awards of excellence. High school graduates from the area are enrolling in Ivy League institutions and Arizona universities alike. The Cocopah Tribe has become a regional center for entertainment and tourism. And with healthcare infrastructure booming, South Yuma County is gaining long-overdue attention. “You can see the growth; you can see the economic impact. Salaries are above minimum wage because we’re training through our College of Health Careers and hiring at a level higher than minimum wage.” Aguirre opened the College of Health Careers in 2007: a Junior Community College that provides Allied Health Careers Certificate Programs to meet the demand of a fast-growing healthcare system.
The San Luis Medical Mall was so successful, moving forward on their initial idea of opening a (16-bed) hospital in San Luis could now become a reality. They broke ground on San Luis’s first ever Rural Community Hospital on January 28, 2025, on a parcel directly adjacent to the existing Medical Mall.
San Luis Rural Community Hospital
A $75 million investment would support the construction of a 64,000 square foot hospital featuring 16 beds, an emergency department, diagnostic services, laboratory, pharmacy, dietetic services, and a helipad. To meet the demand of the rapidly growing community, they estimate an increase to 40 beds in the future. Once constructed, the hospital will be the new home to RCBH’s Family Medicine Residency Program.
“We started a new Family Medicine Residency so we can start getting more family medicine practitioners into these rural communities,” Aguirre said. “Today [June 30, 2025] is the first day of our new Medical Residency Program. We’re celebrating that.”
The program addresses a critical workforce shortage across rural Arizona and will train new physicians in culturally responsive, community-embedded care.
Healthy expansion and building credibility
Aguirre and her team are currently recruiting key personnel for the new hospital, educational programs, and existing medical facilities. She said creating opportunities and an attractive community incentivizes quality candidates to train and stay in the area—a lesson she’s learned in the last 34 years leading RCBH. A synergistic approach between county, city, health organizations, and the community is needed to sustain a community poised for growth.
Along with meaningful staffing, Aguirre mentioned that trust from the community was pivotal in serving South Yuma County’s healthcare needs successfully.
“When I’m working with the community, then I’m there hands-on. I’m working with people to ensure that everyone receives quality service. Regardless of income, background, insurance status—everybody deserves the best.”
Trust is a key value for CHER and allows our center to conduct meaningful, symbiotic studies with communities to advance health research regionally, nationally, and globally.