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Doctor of Life

Northern California M.D. to Join Culture of Life Family Services

BY ANNA KRESTYN

Dr. George Delgado, 43, has promoted the culture of life in the medical profession for years. But in August he will give himself to this vocation more fully, when he joins the Culture of Life Family Services in San Diego as a full-time family practitioner.

Culture of Life Family Services currently operates a crisis pregnancy center located on Washington Boulevard in Hillcrest and is in the process of opening a second center on Rose Street in Escondido. The organization plans to expand their medical care to entail a family care and obstetrics clinic which doctors will practice medicine in accordance with Church teaching and provide emergency care to mothers who have been considering abortion.

Dr. Delgado, a native of northern California, began his practice after completing his medical education at the University of California's Davis and Los Angeles campuses. He has been a family practitioner in Benicia, California for the past 13 and a half years. He and his wife Elizabeth have three children. In July they will relocate from Benicia to Escondido, where Dr. Delgado begins work on August 2. He will split time between the Hillcrest and Escondido clinics.

I asked Delgado if he has always been so dedicated to the cause of the unborn.

Dr. Delgado: "I've been pro-life since I was a child. I always thought abortion was an abomination, but as a doctor I began to rationalize the use of contraceptives, provided they were not abortifacient. But I came to realize that I needed to practice medicine according to the fullness of Catholic teaching."

Was there a specific point at which this realization came?

"The pivotal point was in 1997 when I sat down and read (Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical letter) Humanæ Vitæ.

Can you point out any particular truths in that document which struck you with greater force than before?

There were two things in particular: first, where Paul VI said that physicians should give their patients healthy counsel, and, second, where he talks about the inseparable unity of the procreative and unitive aspects of the marital act."

How did you end up with Culture of Life Family services?

It's a very interesting story of providence. I was looking to make some changes to my practice, but these plans didn't include leaving Benicia. I consulted with my wife, as I always do, and she suggested looking at the One More Soul website. (OneMoreSoul.com is a Dayton, Ohio-based website dedicated to explaining the harms of artificial contraception. The site contains a directory of NFP-only doctors.) I did, not thinking about it. She asked me to look at the 'Physicians Wanted' section. That's where I saw Culture of Life's notice. Although it looked like an amazing opportunity, I sort of discounted it because of the distance. I talked to Dr. Jauregui nonetheless. We hit it off very well. I got a stronger urge to do this —it was almost frightening how drawn I was to the opportunity. So my wife and I decided to contemplate the possibility. The Saturday after that conversation it turned out that I was free to go for a visit to San Diego. I coach basketball and that was one of the few Saturdays I was available, but I had to be back for a game on Sunday. When I checked for flights to San Diego, it also turned out that the only time I could go in that weekend was Saturday morning and the only time I could fly out was Saturday night (it was Thanksgiving weekend). So I flew down and met Nick and Marya. I saw how committed and passionate they were. When I went home, my wife and I had a heart-to-heart talk. Nick offered me the position (of full-time family physician), so the next step was to find someone to buy my practice in Benicia. I wanted to be very careful about who would take it over, so that my patients would feel I was leaving them in good hands. I first called some bigger corporations, but didn't find anyone who committed right away. Then I called some solo practitioners who seemed they would be well suited to the position. It turned out that a staff member told a former employee we were looking for a doctor, and this former employee got in touch with a doctor who had previously worked for me and was looking for his own practice. So things really fell into place."

Culture of Life Family Services invites Catholic (and non-Catholic) families to promote the Pro-life cause by receiving their family medical care in a Faith-friendly environment at their clinics. They plan to be able to accept HMO, PPO, and Medicare insurance. Please call 619-692-4401, or visit colfs.org for more information.

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