HERSHEY, Pa. — Latino Connection has recognized Dr. Sarah Inés Ramirez as its “most valuable player” for CATE, the COVID-19 Mobile Response Unit. Ramirez, a family medicine physician at Penn State Health Medical Group ─ Harrisburg, was honored for her leadership and commitment to serving Pennsylvania’s marginalized communities through the CATE COVID-19 mobile response initiative.
CATE, which stands for Community-Accessible Testing & Education, provides COVID-19 resources to underserved, minority communities, including vaccines, tests, personal protective equipment and bilingual literature on COVID-19 vaccine education.
“Dr. Ramirez’s innovation and passion inspired so many important components of this initiative that simply would not be possible without her help,” said George Fernandez, chief executive officer of Latino Connection. “She assisted with developing safety protocols for the transportation and refrigeration of the vaccines distributed through the CATE unit, a critical part of this initiative’s success.”
Launched in 2020 as Pennsylvania’s first and only COVID-19 mobile response unit, CATE is a partnership of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Latino Connection, Highmark Blue Shield, and the Independence Blue Cross Foundation.
Latino Connection further recognized Ramirez’s commitment to hosting monthly training sessions with teams, community organizations and partners, volunteering to help vaccinate low-income residents in Dauphin County, and providing expertise to help Latino Connection continually refine the effectiveness of the CATE program.
“Dr. Ramirez has played an instrumental role in Latino Connection and CATE’s efforts in the diversity, equity and inclusion space to improve health and wellness outcomes across the commonwealth,” Fernandez said.
Latino Connection recognized Ramirez in 2018 as one of Pennsylvania’s top 100 Most Influential Latino Leaders. She is the chair of Latino Connection’s health advisory board and part of the planning committee for the Latino Health Summit.