Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club has launched a letter-writing campaign to pressure the new Jalisco government from suspending specialized dental services at Ajijic’s Centro de Salud.
The program serving low-income patients suffering severe dental problems is run single-handedly by Miguel Villaseñor Calvillo, a high-ranking specialist in oral health employed by Jalisco’s Ministry of Health (SSJ). In his spare time, he works at the Ajijic health center Saturdays and Sundays, lending his expertise to solve complicated cases with special attention to young people and the elderly, whose nutrition and self-esteem take a heavy toll from crooked or missing teeth.
Villaseñor has been at the helm since the program’s inception in December 2013. Initially, the SSJ invested 74,000 pesos to remodel a storage room and small office space at the health center to accommodate the dental clinic. Community fund-raising spearheaded by Hector España and Harry Bublin brought in an extra 68,000 pesos to cover the cost of furnishings and equipment.
Although the extreme care program was set up as a pilot project to be duplicated in other Jalisco communities, it remains a one-of-a-kind operation. The SSJ provides personnel for weekday dental services in Ajijic and its health care facilities in other localities that are essentially limited to fillings and extractions. Without Villaseñor’s dedication, local patients requiring orthodontics and prosthetics would be on their own to get corrective care.
Throughout his tenure, Villaseñor has relied on Sunrise Rotary for financial aid to supply him with materials his patients cannot afford. Now the service club is lending moral support, with España and Bublin teaming up again to draft a letter demanding that Health Minister Fernando Petersen Aranguren keep the accomplished doctor in his extracurricular post. They have issued a plea for other lakeside organizations and willing individuals to join the cause by contributing additional missives in the same vein. For details, contact Bublin by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..