page_title: The Flying Samaritans
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Flying Samaritans / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Flying Samaritans Clinics in Baja California, Mexico
context_page_description: The Flying Samaritans is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free health care for underserved populations in Baja California, Mexico. The organization consists of ten different chapters, each with up to eight branches, that all operate a medical clinic in Baja California. Volunteer students, doctors, nurses, pilots, and other health professionals travel with their Flying Samaritans branch to their respective clinic locations and run anywhere from one-day to weekend long clinics on a monthly basis. Now with more than 1500 members the Flying Samaritans mission has spread broadly across California, Arizona, and Baja California.
  The Flying Samaritans' organization has four main principles: to provide primary care, specialty care, education, and emergency care. Each branch operates slightly differently, however, all strive to attain the same goal in improving healthcare outcomes for the underserved populations of Baja California. To enliven the first tenant of their mission each branch provides quality primary care to those populations that would otherwise have none.
context_section_description: On November 16, 1961, a group of six passengers, and a pilot by the name of Aileen Saunders, took off from La Paz, Baja California, Mexico. Headed for San Diego, the crew was forced to stop short when they unexpectedly encountered adverse weather along their course.  After a stop in Bahia de Los Angeles, Aileen hit dust storms preventing her from landing in Tijuana or San Diego.  She decided to land in Ensenada for the time being, but within three minutes of landing she suddenly could not see the ground as well as the 5,000 to 7,000 foot peaks in the area.  Forced to circle the area avoiding the peaks, they eventually flew over the storm, and decided to land on a strip outside of the El Rosario community.  In El Rosario the general store's proprietor, Anita Espinosa, acted as a translator for the group while giving them accommodations and hot chocolate.  Anita told the travelers about the village's recent devastation from flooding, and the somber spirits in the community.  She told them that the people would be grateful for clothing donations, and also mentioned the poor health of many community members.
  Returning to San Diego, Aileen and the two other pilot passengers, Leah Hanlon and Polly Ross, began collecting donations.  They returned to El Rosario the Saturday prior to that year's Christmas carrying with them a surplus of clothing, food, and toys.  On the excursion was also a doctor who brought with him his medical bag.  Upon arriving in the community the doctor was mobbed by sick villagers, and so was born the Flying Samaritans, originally named by the people of El Rosario the Flying Angels.  This same doctor not long after returned with nurses and other medical professionals, making trips every other week to provide the community with much needed medical care.  They first operated out of the virtually abandoned local hospital, Hospital Civil de El Rosario, and worked to turn it into a facility they could use to treat patients.
  Expanding to over 20 clinic locations in more than 50 years, now the Flying Samaritans has grown to serve many populations like El Rosario across Baja California, Mexico. With the many additional chapters and branches in California, Arizona, and Baja California the organization now consists of a much larger population that provides the same quality healthcare by motor vehicle.  Each branch is made up of a unique group of leaders and volunteers that travel to their respective clinics operating under the same mission founded by the original Flying Angels.
caption: Map of the Flying Samaritans Clinics in Baja California, Mexico
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