HARLINGEN —Vanessa Cobarrubias begins her day at around 7 a.m. and ends her day at 1 a.m. She works every single day, on Sundays she tries to do as least as possible but Cobarrubias is almost always thinking about her patients.
She began her career as a Physicians Assistant at Harlingen Medical ER and worked at the COVID-19 Hospital in El Paso. Cobarrubias was then sent to Harlingen to oversee over 3,000 infusions of Monoclonal antibody treatments.
“It helps people recover quickly,” Cobarrubias said.
“When my grandfather got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, my family has experts in all fields but I decided to get into medicine to help the community and know what’s going on,” she said.
For her, working to help COVID-19 patients during the pandemic has been humbling. Cobarrubias works in partnership with Dr. Michael Muniz, who sometimes goes to homes to do infusions. For example, people who are blind or are not able to get up.
“The most important aspect to me is for every patient to have access to this, as long as my community needs this I will be doing this,” she said.
Cobarrubias added how important it is to recognize the Emergency Operations Center of Cameron County, which is also part of the collaborative effort her work entails.
“They worked hard to bring this treatment to the RGV since December. They were very forward people,” Cobarrubias said.
She is community driven and for now, this is where her attention is focused. Her future goals will always be centered in the community, she said.
“It has been such a blessing to bring help to my community in this time of need,” Cobarruvias said.
“I am super proud of the providers, a big shout out to Dr. James Castillo and all primary care providers, everyone has joined forces,” Cobarrubias said.
She stressed how important it is to be cautious and take as many preventive measures as possible. Cobarrubias worked 112 days straight when she first started doing infusions. She said she prays for endurance.
“How do I rest if people are dying and I can help them?” Cobarrubias said.
