Profiles - Sister Peggy Deneweth, SC and Sister Janet Gildea, SC
Sister Peggy Deneweth, SC
Sister Janet Gildea, SC
La Clinica Guadulapana
Horizon City, Texas
A few miles east of El Paso in the midst of several of the ad hoc border communities known as “colonias,” a pretty white stucco building has become a symbol of hope and caring. La Clinica Guadulapana was opened in 1995 by a doctor and a nurse who are also members of a Catholic religious community, the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati.
Sister Janet Gildea, SC, is a licensed family practice doctor and Sister Peggy Deneweth, SC, is a registered nurse. After working with the San Vincente Clinic in Socorro, New Mexico, they came to the El Paso area to see how they could help the growing immigrant population. They began by providing door-to-door medical care, traveling the mostly unpaved roads in a van, going from colonia to colonia.
They soon realized that the health care needs of the community were greater than what they could provide in that fashion and the plans for the clinic were started. Funded primarily by donations from civic organization and individuals, La Clinica Guadulapana now averages about 9,000 patient visits a year. Payments for treatment are determined on a sliding scale based on income, and no one who needs care is turned away.
“It is very fulfilling work,” says Sister Gildea. “It is why I went into family practice in the first place, and why I wanted to be a sister in the second place.”
To arrange interviews with Sisters Gildea and Deneweth or any of the individuals featured in the “You Could Make A Difference” campaign, contact Sister Mary Ann Walsh, 202-541-3200, mwalsh@usccb.org.