“We were in rural Peru. Some people walked a couple of hours to come see us for help,” said Dr. Camille Gutierrez.

That mission trip to Yontalo, Peru in 2015 as a medical student was impactful for Dr. Gutierrez in a number of ways. There, she cared for Spanish-speaking patients and worked to fully establish a clinic in the town. Having earned bachelor’s degrees in both biology and Spanish at Canisius College, and taking “medical Spanish” courses during her graduate years at University at Buffalo, this was an opportunity to use her medical training and second language to help people. Seeing the hardships people endured just to see a doctor, it became clear to her that doctors need more than clinical knowledge and language skills.

“That’s the thing about abroad mission trips,” said Dr. Gutierrez. “We’re there, and we’re helping you, but then we’re gone.”

For Dr. Gutierrez, this was the hardest aspect of the trips. She wanted to be a stable person in patients’ lives, to get to know patients as individuals and provide care in a holistic way.

Before she became Dr. Gutierrez, Camille started at Sisters of Charity Hospital as a medical assistant, and made a point of getting to know patients. There was a patient on her floor who spent months in the hospital with a very difficult pregnancy. During Camille’s lunch breaks, she would sit with her in her hospital room and play Mancala with her. One day, the patient wasn’t there for lunchtime Mancala. 

“They had to deliver her,” said Dr. Gutierrez. “It was a decision that needed to be made quickly for her and her baby’s health.”

This need for a quick and important decision stuck with Dr. Gutierrez. Providers also need to be able to explain the decision to the patient in an understandable way. Being able to do that with her Spanish-speaking patients, in their own language, is incredibly important to her.

“I like talking to patients, I like getting to know them and being able to have that rapport with them,” said Dr. Gutierrez. “Being able to reassure patients and speak to them in their language is something I find very fulfilling.”

Dr. Gutierrez was born and raised in Alden, NY. She assumed that leaving Western New York and going abroad would be her only chance to really develop her practice as a bilingual OB-GYN provider. That is until she shadowed Dr. Elis Gomez, a longtime bilingual family medicine physician at Neighborhood Health Center Mattina. During just one day of shadowing, Dr. Gutierrez recognized the need for a Spanish-speaking OB-GYN provider in Buffalo. 

“I realized [Spanish] is something I can use in Buffalo, I don’t have to move somewhere else to use it,” said Dr. Gutierrez. 

Even with the inspiration from Dr. Gomez, Dr. Gutierrez didn’t come to Neighborhood right away. She worked her way through various roles at Sisters Hospital in the labor and delivery department. There she saw Neighborhood’s OB doctors when they came to the hospital to deliver babies and care for patients. 

“I really liked how they took care of the patients,” said Dr. Gutierrez. “They value working with the patients and educating them on their health, and that is what I wanted to carry into my own practice.”

Dr. Gutierrez joined Neighborhood’s OB-GYN department in 2022. She says her Spanish-speaking patients are sometimes still surprised by her language skills, and she sees a weight lifted off their shoulders when they realize they can communicate with their doctor in their native language. 

“A lot of my Spanish-speaking patients will tell me a lot more, because I might be the first provider that is able to understand all their questions,” said Dr. Gutierrez. “It makes me happy that they trust me and that I can be a person they can go to when it comes to their health concerns.”