During major changes in the health care industry, Francisco J. Silva, as General Counsel for the California Medical Association (CMA), represents more than 35,000 state physicians.

    Francisco the youngest of seven children was born in Sonora, Mexico to Eva Ruelas Silva and Rafael Silva Puentes. The family migrated from Mexico to Salinas, California when Francisco was four years old.  Like his older brothers and sisters, Francisco was expected to work in the agricultural fields along-side his mom and dad.

    Because of the discipline and work ethic required by agricultural labor, the Silva siblings learned at an early age the value of hard work and the privilege of obtaining an education.  The Silva family delved into their studies and eventually graduated from top California universities, including Stanford, UC Davis Medical School, UCSB, UCSC, Santa Clara University, UC Irvine and UCLA School of Law.

    Prior to joining CMA, Francisco was a judicial law clerk for Federal District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel, the Vice President and Counsel for Government Affairs for the California Apartment Association and a litigation attorney at Heller Ehrman LLP in San Francisco and at the office of Downey Brand LLP in Sacramento.

    CMA lobbyists on behalf of physicians at the state capitol and supports doctor- and patient-friendly litigation in the courts. Recent lawsuits include a program by California insurers to rate doctor’s performance and price fixing in the insurance industry.

    Francisco also organized and implemented litigation efforts that successfully prevented the state of California from implementing cuts to the Medi-Cal program, which provides coverage for more than six million low-income children and families as well as elderly, blind, or disabled individuals. Francisco believes that protecting the Medi-Cal program from budget cuts should be a top priority for Latinos since approximately 47% or 2.9 million of the Medi-Cal beneficiaries are Latino. This number will grow significantly as a result of the health care reform legislation that has expended those eligible to receive Medi-Cal coverage.

    While working at CMA, Francisco sees the need for more Latinos to enter the legal and medical professions. Latinos make up nearly 40 percent of California’s population, yet they make up about 5 percent of physicians and 4 percent of lawyers in the state. He encourages parents to actively participate in their children’s school and extracurricular activities and to encourage them to succeed in their education.

    When Francisco is not working, he is with his family and working with disadvantaged youth.  He is one of the founders and board member of the Gil Basketball Academy and California Basketball Academy. These two non-profits were formed as a counter-force to rising gang violence and low educational achievements by students in the Salinas and Sacramento areas. Through these organizations, Francisco intends to teach youth the value of hard work and perseverance.

    Francisco and his wife Soyla Fernandez, also started the Silva Fernandez Family Fund, with the purpose – and sense of responsibility – to provide financial support to organizations and groups positively impacting the lives of farm worker and Latino families.  Supporting community efforts like a basketball academy, scholarship programs, leadership development, diabetes research and others, the Fund meets Francisco and Soyla’s most sincere objective to give back to their hometown communities and improve the quality of life for children and families not too different from them.

    Francisco believes that through sports, arts and other extracurricular opportunities, youth can excel in school and be successful in life. He believes that trough hard work and perseverance, more Latinos could fill the need for Latino physicians and attorneys to meet California’s needs.

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