Luisa Buada RN, MPH

Luisa Buada, is a Native San Francisco Bay Area Californian who has dedicated her career for 52 years to community health.  In September 1973, she started as a full time volunteer front desk/medical assistant/translator at the United Farmworkers clinic in Salinas.  She was a public health nurse serving farm labor camps 1977-1980; became the founding Executive Director of Clinica (Popular) del Valley de Salinas 1980 to 1983; Interim Director of Salud para la Gente in Watsonville 1983-1984; founding Executive Director for Berkeley Primary Care Access 1990, merging with Over 60 Health Center to become Lifelong Medical Care in 1996.  

In the late 1970’s she was a member of Governor Jerry Brown’s Primary Care Clinics Advisory Committee and a board member of the Monterey County Special Health Care Authority. From 1997 – 2001 as the Executive Director for the California Institute for Rural Health Management (CIRHM) she was responsible for the programmatic direction of the James Irvine Foundation funded Developing Rural Integrated Systems (DRIS) operating in four California rural health care markets.  

She participated in the California Wellness Foundation’s The Future of Work and Health Program; was a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Academy for Health Services and Health Policy Research’s, Networking for Rural Health Project, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation during 1999 and 2000.  She has served on the advisory committees of the Insured The Uninsured Project and the Partnership for the Public’s Health; and is a founding board member for the Community Health Center Network in Alameda County. 

As a consultant between 1984-1992 Luisa worked with Bowman Associates in Region XI, Rosenberg Associates, Pacific Health Consulting Group and Buada & Associates Health Planners, consulting with clinics throughout the United States providing strategic and financial planning, organizational development, architectural programming and bilingual board training.  

In November 2002, Luisa became Interim CEO for Ravenswood Family Health Center (RFHC) in East Palo Alto and in November 2003 permanent CEO until stepping down in December 2023.  Under her leadership, RFHC grew from 13 employees to 350 and from a single modular building to a 38,300 sq. ft. facility with a separate 19 chair dental clinic. In April, 2020, Luisa led the acquisition of three MayView Community Health Center sites in Palo Alto, Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Luisa continues working part time as the Director of Capital Projects, Project Manager and Fundraiser for Clinic Construction Projects.

Education & Awards

  • Bachelor’s in Nursing UC San Francisco 1977
  • Master’s in Public Health UC Berkeley 1990
  • San Mateo County Women’s Hall of Fame March 2010
  • Woman of the Year, State Senate District 13 – 2013
  • Visionary of the Year Honoree – SF Chronicle & St. Mary’s College – 2016
  • John W. Gardner Exemplary Leadership Award, American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley – 2016
  • Woman of the Year, Assembly District 24 – 2018
  • Compassion Award, UCSF School of Nursing – 2019
  • Friends of Hass Award, Stanford Community Impact Fellowship Program – 2021
  • California Primary Care Association Community Health Center Legacy Award – 2023