Dr. Silvia Diego is the chief medical officer at Golden Valley Health Centers (GVHC) in California’s Central Valley. She was appointed to the Medical Board of California by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010 and reappointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 2011. She has served since 2008 as assistant clinical professor at the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine. She is a clinical committee member of the California Primary Care Association and a fellow at the California HealthCare Foundation. Dr. Diego earned her medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Diego grew up in the Central San Joaquin Valley as the third of four children of a farmworking family. She is the first in her family to attend college and pursue a professional career path. As a youngster, she witnessed the need in her community for well trained physicians who were both Spanish-speaking and culturally aware and sensitive of her community’s needs. She was determined at a young age to work in a community health center.

After completing her undergraduate training at CSU Fresno, she obtained her MD degree from Stanford Medical School, followed by her residency at UC Davis’ Modesto Satellite program in Family Medicine. After graduation, she began working for GVHC in the Central Valley Health Network, which offers premiere quality health care to patients regardless of their financial, cultural or language barriers.

Dr. Diego’s true passion is clinical medicine and delivering babies, but she is well aware of the need for qualified, culturally aware physicians to take care of the Latino population. Dr. Diego’s leadership roles in health care have progressed from Clinical Director, to Associate Medical Director, and finally to Chief Medical Officer for GVHC.