NAPA, CA – April 14, 2025 – Three Napa-based members of the CommuniCare+OLE staff recently returned from a 10-day trip to provide healthcare and health education to rural villages in the Amazon region of Peru. Family Nurse Practitioners Denisse Maldonado and Adriana Gutierrez joined Areli Castro and were part of a mission trip to the Pucallpa area in Peru where they provided medical care to more than 600 Peruvians in rural villages across the region. CommuniCare+OLE is sponsored the costs of food, travel, and lodging for the two providers.
“CommuniCare+OLE is committed to serving our communities, and we also understand the importance of access to care and services beyond our geographic region,” said Alicia Hardy, CEO of CommuniCare+OLE. “We are so proud of our team members who opted to use their personal time and professional talents to help increase access to care for communities beyond our own, and we were happy to be able to support them in doing so.”
There were four days of clinic during the trip where the team provided different services, including acute care, diabetes management, hypertension management, medication assistance, reading glasses, pregnancy and other diagnostic tests, as well as EKG and ultrasound services in collaboration with Amor Projects. Joined by an internal medicine physician from Washington state, Dr. Gow Lee, and a local physician from Peru, they embarked on long days of care in the field, waking up before sunrise and working well into the evening. Days before the team’s arrival, devastating floods swept through the region, complicating travel plans and logistics. The team stayed nimble and traveled by car, canoe, and even moto-taxi, navigating flooded paths to reach a remote village near the Ucayali River.
In each of the clinic days, the team treated between 140-150 patients, most of whom haven’t had access to regular care. As family medicine practitioners, Maldonado and Guitierrez were able to provide care to all ages, including pediatric patients, and provided an exam to a baby who was only 12 days old.
Many of the individuals living in these communities struggle to fill prescriptions, both financially and logistically. To help alleviate issues accessing crucial medications, the team provided supplies of diabetes, hypertension, and parasitic infection treatments.
“This mission trip has been nothing short of life-changing,” said Adriana Gutierrez, FNP. “The impact we witnessed is hard to put into words—so many of the patients we met have very limited access to medical care. The hardest part is knowing we won’t be able to follow up, to check in, to see how they’re doing. This opportunity to serve is a gift I will never forget.”
Despite being thousands of miles away, the experience hit the team close to home.
“Every smile, every life touched reminded me why I chose this path and deepened my love for caring for the underserved,” said Denisse Maldonado, FNP. “I was born and raised in Michoacán, Mexico, and was the first in my family to graduate college and earn a doctorate degree. I carry my roots with pride. Traveling to Peru wasn’t just an act of service—it felt like a homecoming to my purpose.”
The trip was organized as a collaboration between Pacific Union College (PUC), Maranatha, and Amor Projects. As part of her Global Health capstone project at PUC, Areli Castro helped plan the expedition, and it was her involvement that added the medical component to the trip.
“After months of careful planning and organization, I was in awe as I watched our dedicated and skilled medical team come together to serve the communities of eastern Peru,” said Areli Castro. “My passion for serving those in need stems from the experiences of my parents, who grew up in poverty in Mexico. They did not have the same opportunities that I had, and it fills my heart to give back and be able to provide healthcare to those who often do not have equal access to it. Looking back, this journey felt like a full-circle moment—one that I will hold close to my heart for the rest of my life.”
The rest of the group traveling to Peru, comprised of students from PUC and Orangewood Academy, worked on building a Seventh-Day Adventist church and vacation bible school, which included health and hygiene topics in the curriculum.
About CommuniCare+OLE
CommuniCare+OLE is the result of a 2023 union of two health centers with deep roots in their respective communities and reputations for providing high-quality primary care to all, regardless of insurance or ability to pay: OLE Health of Napa and Solano Counties and CommuniCare Health Centers of Yolo County. Building on a legacy established by both organizations in 1972, CommuniCare+OLE is a network of federally-qualified health centers with 17 sites across Napa, Solano, and Yolo Counties. It offers comprehensive care, including medical, dental, behavioral health and substance use treatment, nutrition, optometry, pharmacy, care coordination, referrals, and enrollment assistance to more than 70,000 individuals, and no one is turned away due to lack of insurance, immigration status, or ability to pay. Many services are offered outside of its sites, including mobile health, home visiting, and community and school-based programs.
