In Mexican Consulates across the country, Ventanilla de Salud (VdS) offices offer health resources and information to Mexican nationals and other members of the Latinx community, free of charge. Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) acts as the fiscal agent for three Texas VdS locations: Austin, Eagle Pass, and Del Rio. Two of the offices, in Del Rio and Eagle Pass, recently organized one of many creative and engaging activities in order to promote health resources and access.

On a warm Friday in April, around 110 participants gathered at Willow Creek Adult Day Care in Del Rio to play bingo – but this bingo incorporated health education and services. The event, Loteria Mexicana Informativa, was geared toward older populations, providing free tests such as blood pressure, glucose, and more, along with informational presentations from local agencies and health clinics, in between rounds of bingo.
 

The event’s Loteria Mexicana Informativa provided participants with a card featuring traditional Mexican images. The goal was to cover four pictures in a row, whether it was horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. The VdS team used a deck of cards featuring the images. If the image on the card that was drawn and called out matched one on your card, you covered it with a tile (or pinto bean) until you achieved four in a row. The first to achieve this yelled “Loteria!” signifying they had won and got to take home the prize – but the event wasn’t just fun and games. It had a strong health education component.

“Between each loteria, we presented educational and informational programs to the community,” said Marizza Patino, coordinator of the VdS office in Del Rio.

Additionally, the participants could take advantage of free health exams conducted by nurses from United Medical Center, Maverick County Hospital District, and other local clinics. Some of the agencies that came to offer their services included MHP Salud, Serving Children and Adults in Need (SCAN), and Baptist Church and Family Services (BCFS), among others.
 

This Loteria strategy brings together culture, health, and entertainment, a formula the VdS team has found to be appealing and successful. 

The VdS office in Del Rio holds an informational session such as this one every month. While services are geared for the whole family, the team gives special attention to older generations as they often take the most advantage of the available resources.
 

“We work most with older adults because they are the ones who are available and need the information the most. The young people are at school and the not-so-young people are working,” Patino said. “So, who are in their houses? The elderly.” Those older members of the household can then pass health information to the whole family.

In the summer months the team organizes events for moms and their kids, such as a cooking class where the children get to dress up like chefs. Activities like this are a great way to connect local communities with resources they need.

“At the same time that we are enjoying something fun, they have access to very important information,” Patino said.

Exciting things were also happening that weekend at the Ventanilla de Salud office in Eagle Pass. On Saturday, April 12, students from University of Texas Health San Antonio’s “Frontera de Salud” project attended the biweekly “Jornada de Salud,” to provide free health screenings to community members who stopped by the Mexican Consulate to run some administrative errands or process documentation. 

The 12 UT Health students, who are studying to be doctors and nurses, administered tests for blood pressure, glucose (both the general test and one for HbA1c levels), weight, cholesterol, and peripheral pressure in the legs, which is a new test for an arterial disease called PAD. Additionally, a doctor came with them to go over the results with participants and do a quick health assessment.

United Medical Center also attended the event, providing information and educational sessions on diabetes, nutrition, exercise, blood pressure, and other important health topics.

The students usually come to offer their services at the VdS office twice a year and Mirtala Barrón, coordinator of the Ventanilla de Salud in Eagle Pass, said people are very receptive. 

“When they come, we always have a very good response from the community,” she said.

On this particular Saturday, 52 people stopped by to take advantage of the Jornada de Salud. So many, in fact, that the students ran out of some tests, noting that they would need to bring more next time.

Barrón said she likes to schedule VdS events at peak hours at the Mexican Consulate, hopefully making health information and resources more accessible to more members of the community. For example, Saturday is the day many people come to the Consulate for anything related to documentation, so Barrón chose every other Saturday for the Jornada de Salud. But the Jornada isn’t only for Mexican Nationals visiting the Consulate; any member of the Latinx population can take advantage of the services that the Ventanilla de Salud provides.
 

“It’s open to the whole community,” Barrón said. “We don’t say ‘no’ to anyone.”

While the VdS offices host many events throughout the year, Barrón thinks health fairs – such as the recent one in collaboration with the UT Health students – provide the most resources for the greatest number of people.

“All our activities are important, but this one is a little more complete in what we can offer folks,” she said. 

You can keep up to date with Ventanillas in Austin, Eagle Pass, and Del Rio via their Facebook pages.