Amanda Aguirre’s 35-year effort to build health care in Yuma County

When Amanda Aguirre talks about the Regional Center for Border Health’s 35 years, she describes a long build: from a local clinic to a network that now reaches across the border region.

Aguirre is the organization’s president and CEO. KYMA reported this month that the center operates 26 licensed clinics and five mobile units, alongside a College of Health Careers that trains people for health jobs. Those are substantial pieces of infrastructure in rural communities where access can be a long drive away.

From public service to health care

Aguirre was born in Sonora, Mexico, and studied chemistry at the University of Sonora. She later earned a master’s degree in nutrition from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1981, according to the Arizona State Library’s legislative biography.

She entered the Arizona House in 2003, representing District 24, which included Yuma and La Paz counties. She moved to the Senate in 2006 and served through 2010. The state library says she was the first woman and first Hispanic to represent the district in the House.

What comes next

The latest expansion is the New Vida Birthing Center in San Luis. It offers midwife-led care for low-risk pregnancies. Yuma Informed’s guide to the center explains the services and the questions families may want answered before choosing it: https://yumainformed.com/articles/san-luis-new-vida-birthing-center-2026

KYMA reported that the organization is also pursuing a teaching health center and residency program, and has ambitions for a hospital. Those projects would take resources and approvals the clinic network does not automatically guarantee. The public report did not provide a timetable.

Aguirre told KYMA that seeing how far the organization has come feels like a dream come true. For the people who depend on local clinics, the next question is what the institution can build after 35 years of work.