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La Clínica del Pueblo

Overview

La Clínica del Pueblo is a bilingual, bicultural, community health center that provides comprehensive care to the Latino community. La Clínica’s holistic services combine primary care, mental health and substance abuse services, HIV/AIDS prevention, social services, interpreter services, and community health outreach. More than 50% of La Clínica’s patients have less than a seventh grade education, and 90% of their clients are uninsured and under the federal poverty level.

Mission

To provide culturally appropriate health services to persons in the Latino community, regardless of their ability to pay.

Vision for the Future

La Clínica del Pueblo promotes community participation and empowerment through professional care, advocacy, and a vision of health care as a human right. Their patients take an active role in their health care and form an essential part of their team. Clients are pleased with the services they receive. They give priority to patients with the greatest health need, who cannot pay for services otherwise. They have a clean, safe, comfortable, and colorful facility, in which sufficient staff has the appropriate tools to accomplish their tasks. Their efficient processes allow them to provide the greatest number of patients with quality services.

La Clínica is a sensitive, multicultural, and bilingual organization that continually grows to meet the needs of the Latino community throughout the region. They emphasize prevention, education, and wellness as essential parts of our comprehensive concept of health care.

Communities Served

Ninety-eight percent of La Clínica del Pueblo’s primary client base is of Hispanic origin, from which 86% is composed of Central American, Spanish-speaking immigrants who reside principally in Wards 1, 2, and 4 in the District of Columbia; have less than a high school education; are 18 and over; and who are generally low-income and uninsured or under-insured.

Health Services

• Clinical Services
o Family practice care for infants through seniors.
o Specialty areas in HIV, pediatrics, neurology, and OB/GYN.
• Patient Support Services
o Entitlements, case management, and one-on-one patient education and groups.
• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
o Individual, couples, and family counseling.
o Psycho-educational groups.
o Intensive outpatient substance abuse services.
• Community Health Action
o Extensive HIV prevention services.
o HIV counseling, testing, and referral services.
o Health fairs and health promotion activities.
• Interpreter Services
o Trained medical interpreters in many languages for Limited English Proficient (LEP) patients throughout DC.

Current Initiatives

• Clinical Services and Patient Support Services
Over the last year, La Clínica’s Clinical Services department alone exceeded its service goal, providing comprehensive health care services to more than 6,480 unduplicated patients. It also complemented and expanded the work of its Club de Pacientes (Patients’ Club), which provides intensive support and education to diabetic patients. This program establishes regular exercise classes for patients struggling with obesity and other ailments.

• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
One of our current initiatives in this department is the program Volviendo a Vivir, which is our intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment program targeting Latinos ex-offenders with drug and/or alcohol dependency. Started in 2007, the treatment consists of individual and group therapy, as well as HIV education and testing and case management.

• Community Health Action
During the last year, the Community Health Action department held 25 weekend health fairs which served approximately 1,113 people in the broader community. La Clínica provided HIV prevention education to more than 17,866 people at community events, in group settings, and through individual interactions.
• Over the past year, the department continued to expand and develop its Entre Amigas program, which combines women’s empowerment, HIV prevention, and domestic violence reduction. Entre Amigas has recently received new funds from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women to expand the role of the “promotoras” to help the victims to navigate the system. In coalition with Women Empowered Against Violence, Inc. (WEAVE), the promotoras will be trained to help the victims through the legal processes while continuing with their empowerment workshops.
• La Clínica offers free HIV testing and System Navigation for Latino immigrants who do not know their HIV status, and for those who are living with HIV and seeking services. Latinos are more likely to be diagnosed years after their initial infection and La Clínica works to ensure that all Latinos in the DC area know their status. The program serves all in need.
• Another of our greatest innovative and holistic programs under our HIV/AIDS services is called Mpodérate. This program targets young adult gay men and transgender women in the Latino community in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

• Interpreter Services
More than 10 percent of people in the DC metro area have limited English proficiency. Very few doctors and care providers are trained bilingual medical staff, which can create a huge divide between patients and their providers. La Clínica started providing medical interpretation in over eight languages on-site and for all medical facilities in the area to help break down that barrier and consolidate their Language Access Capacity Building.

Major Achievements

• In 2009, La Clínica provided more than 7,500 men, women, and children with more than 55,000 quality and culturally appropriate health services.
• Responding to the needs of our patients, La Clínica del Pueblo has expanded its operations to a new Youth Health Center site since June 2010. Located on Mt. Pleasant Street NW, this center houses the clinic’s Mpodérate! program and its youth HIV/AIDS outreach.
• La Clínica del Pueblo, through its Mi Familia (My Family) program, was one of only three organizations chosen in 2010 by the National Council of La Raza’s for its Family Strengthening Award.
• Our Quality Improvement / Performance Monitoring Committee, reported that during 2009 La Clínica del Pueblo achieved:
o A 73 percent Diabetes Control Rate compared to a 71 percent on the national level, and
o An 83 percent Pediatric Vaccine Rate compared to a 73 percent nationwide rate – 10 percent higher than the national average.
• Since 2007, La Clínica has been certified as a Federally Qualified Health Center, which has increased availability to training and technical assistance, incorporation of quality assurance activities, credentialing all service providers, and a higher reimbursement rate from government insurance providers.

Working Toward Health Equity

La Clínica del Pueblo is a community-based primary care center that creates and implements innovative strategies that break down barriers to health care. The clinic strives to address and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in the health status of the local Latino population by offering linguistically and culturally appropriate medical care to low-income Latinos regardless of their ability to pay.

We work toward a future of health equity by removing barriers to care and providing access to health care, cultural competency, advocacy, and inclusion. We are convinced that by providing those in need with health care of the highest quality, while giving them the chance of having providers that are culturally competent, the holistic view of our patient’s health is enhanced – ensuring a healthier community.

Social Media

Like La Clínica del Pueblo on Facebook, contribute to La Clínica del Pueblo, Inc. on Causes, and view LaClínica del Pueblo on YouTube.


CONTACT INFORMATION

Alicia Wilson, Executive Director
2831 - 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 462-4788
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