Dr. Augusto Ortiz lived and worked in Arizona most of his professional life from 1953 until his death in 2006. Throughout his career as a family practitioner and educator, he worked to bring healthcare to the poor and underserved. In his earlier years, he worked in private practice in the Phoenix area primarily serving a needy Hispanic population. In 1972, Dr. Ortiz moved to Tucson and established a mobile health program based out of the University of Arizona’s Rural Health Office, which provided health care to many rural and underserved areas in Southeastern Arizona. Areas of particular interest to him included community oriented primary care, migrant laborer health care, health education and folk medicine including herbal folk remedies and curanderismo.

This collection contains Ortiz's correspondence from over a 35-year period (1969-2004), as well as documents corresponding to each of the topics mentioned above including extensive documentation relating to the Mobile Health Program. The collection also includes Dr. Ortiz’s U.S. Surgeon General Medallion. Formerly collection number HT 0025.