bridging a
health gap
ada volunteer offers
bilingual medical care
»Neurologist Alfredo lópez-Yunez, md, has trained to tend to people’s brains, but the
patients at alivio medical center in
indianapolis will tell you he cares about the whole
person. lópez-yunez, who is a codirector of the
Wishard stroke unit at indiana university and a
volunteer board member of the american diabetes
association’s indianapolis office, is also founder and
director of alivio, a comprehensive health care clinic
serving the uninsured or underinsured and, in
particular, the latino community. alivio’s bilingual staff
serves people who might otherwise not get health care.
When lópez-yunez, 44, opened alivio in a shopping
center in 2001, an influx of spanish-speaking
immigrants had recently moved to the indianapolis
area. he says hospitals there weren’t ready to serve the
new population, in part because of a language barrier.
people had difficulty getting referrals to specialists with
whom they could communicate, and their cases often
got lost in the shuffle. lópez-yunez, himself an
immigrant from colombia, saw that he and other
doctors in the area could
cater to the special
needs of the new
immigrant community.
he and a few other
specialists rented the
office space and alivio
medical center was born.
Word of the spanish-
speaking doctors and
nurses at the clinic,
where fees are charged
on a sliding scale based on patients’ income, spread
quickly. “the need was so great that we had to add
services almost every two weeks,” lópez-yunez says. “it
was almost exponential growth.” a decade later, the
clinic staff of 65 people has open files on 15,000
patients, with more than 400 patients coming in every
week for services from dental cleanings to physical
therapy, and cardiology to nutrition. in recent years, the
clinic has seen a rise in type 2 diabetes diagnoses.
lópez-yunez estimates that alivio’s doctors diagnose
Alfredo lópez-Yunez, MD
New!
ReadeR
PaNel
We need you for our reader panel! We’d
like to make sure that Forecast reflects
the experiences and wisdom of people
who live with and care about diabetes.
aPPlicatioN
to aPPly:
I LIVE WITH DIABETES:
• Type 1 • Type 1, LADA
• Type 2 • Prediabetes
• Gestational • MODY
• Other
• N/A
Number of years living with diabetes
• I love or care for someone who lives with diabetes
(describe relationship)
My other volunteer activities include
How I can represent the readers of Diabetes Forecast
and contribute to the magazine (please limit your
response to 200 words—attach an extra sheet of paper)
