Luisa Buada, RN ’77, MPH : Creating healthier communities, one patient at a time

Buada has been instrumental in ensuring that residents of San Mateo County and the larger Bay Area region receive access to quality health care regardless of their income or insurance status.

The daughter of a Filipino farm worker and a nurse, Buada has been a lifelong supporter of farmworkers’ rights and health care for all. As a teenager, she witnessed the poor health conditions of migrant and seasonal farmworkers while volunteering with the United Farm Workers’ Union alongside Cesar Chavez. The experience spurred her to help improve those conditions.

Just out of nursing school, Buada founded Clínica Popular del Valle de Salinas, a community health center and specialized clinic for Salinas Valley farmworkers. She also founded the Berkeley Primary Access Clinic and was integral in the establishment of LifeLong Medical Care, both offering much-needed health care services and programs to low-income populations.

Buada has served for the past 15 years as director of the Ravenswood Family Health Center in East Palo Alto, an organization that sees more than 17,000 adults and children annually – predominantly low-income, uninsured, and undocumented residents of Palo Alto, Belle Haven, and North Fair Oaks. Under Buada’s leadership, Ravenswood has grown from 13 employees to more than 200. Today, the center offers comprehensive, multigenerational health care as well as dental, optometry, pharmacy, and preventive health services.

In March 2018, Buada received the California State Assembly Woman of the Year award in recognition of her public service to the 24th Assembly District.

“It is an honor to recognize Luisa for her extraordinary work in the 24th Assembly District,” said Assembly member Marc Berman. “For more than three decades, Luisa has expanded access to health care for tens of thousands of residents who would not have care otherwise. With limited resources, Luisa is creating healthier communities, one patient at a time.”

Buada received an inaugural UCSF Campaign Alumni Award in "The Compassionate" category in 2018. This award honors individuals whose work is marked by boundless empathy, understanding, and caring within health care or science.