OLE Health expands mobile health program in Napa, Solano counties and welcomes return of Upvalley physician

A number of changes have been announced for OLE Health, the Napa County-based health provider that serves the area’s most vulnerable populations.

OLE Health’s mobile health initiative will expand to three days a week throughout Napa County and the Fairfield-Suisun area, and will be led by Ricardo Mendez, the health organization announced Monday.

Mendez, a physician’s assistant with nearly a decade of experience, will be the dedicated primary care provider rather than a rotating roster of providers, according to OLE Health.

The mobile initiative was launched in December 2022 with a focus on Upvalley farmworkers. Since it began, according to OLE Health, the mobile clinics have offered services to nearly half of the farmworkers in St. Helena, Napa and Calistoga.

Now, thanks to a $163,000 grant from Solano County, OLE Health will begin providing mobile services in Fairfield and Suisun City in October.

Its mobile services are also set to expand to the Boys and Girls Club of Napa Valley and the Boys and Girls Club of St. Helena and Calistoga, along with other community sites.

“With the expansion, OLE Health will continue its partnership with the Napa County Housing Authority to provide services to the farmworker housing complexes in Napa but will visit other locations and serve new populations as well,” according to a news release from OLE Health.

Amid the change, the health provider also welcomed the return of Dr. Gabriela Bermudez, who served as medical director of OLE’s Upvalley sites from 2019 to 2022. The 16-year employee returned to the organization after pursuing a master’s degree in health economics, policy and management in Norway.

“Calistoga and St. Helena are very special to me, and I am so glad to be back at OLE Health and caring for many of the same families I saw for 16 years,” Bermudez said in the release.

“Continuing my education and being abroad was incredible, and it’s been wonderful to be able to come back and rejoin this tight-knit community.”

Bermudez will see patients at OLE’s health centers in St. Helena and Calistoga.

OLE Health, founded in 1972, has served the Calistoga area since 1999, according to the release, and provides service to roughly 1 in 3 Calistogans as the only local provider to accept Medi-Cal or Denti-Cal.

It also has locations in Napa, American Canyon and Fairfield.

You can reach Staff Writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or edward.booth@pressdemocrat.com.