Clínica Esperanza/Hope Clinic (CEHC) was founded in August of 2007 by a group of medical volunteers based in Providence. In November 2009, CEHC opened a temporary clinic at the AIDS Care Ocean State Office, 557 Broad St., Providence. In May 2010, the CEHC opened its permanent facility at 60 Valley Street – a.k.a. “The Plant – in the Providence community of Olneyville.

CEHC believes good health care involves having the community coming together to be “a place to be healthy.” By working with local community groups and leaders, CEHC has developed a clinic that should meet the needs of the people within the community. Services will be tailored to be complementary to existing health care resources – including the Olneyville Community Health Center – in order to improve the quality of services and increase the number of patients receiving timely, effective and quality care.

CEHC is run by highly qualified and experienced volunteer health providers, and all of the current members of the volunteer staff have had between 3-7 years of experience working in free care in Rhode Island. There is a small number of non-volunteer staff, an R.N. Coordinator (Maria Mendez) who will be responsible for adherence to Department of Health Regulations for Ambulatory Clinics, and an clinical coordinator (Carlos Juarez) who provides scheduling, coordination and office help.

Additionally, in keeping with its mission to educate on disease prevention, identify at-risk community members, and improve access to preventive care, CEHC established an innovative program, the “Navegantes” (Health care Navigators) in January 2010. This innovative program has trained and deployed six Navegantes, enabling community residents to access preventive care and health maintenance, reducing the need for residents of focus communities to use the emergency room as a source of care and to be hospitalized for preventable illnesses.

Click here to learn more about the Navegantes Outreach program.

Even prior to opening the permanent location, CEHC volunteer providers have served more than 450 predominantly Latino, poor, uninsured residents of Providence, providing access to diabetes monitoring, blood pressure monitoring, prescription assistance, and assisting with referral and guided access to specialized medical tests and care at local hospitals. Plans to serve more than 2,000 uninsured residents of Rhode Island in the first year of operation at the new location are in place. Clinica Esperanza will set down roots in Olneyvile – remaining at the 60 Valley Street location at least until quality health care is available regardless of ability to pay, for all residents of Rhode Island.

More information on Clinica Esperanza / Hope Clinic can be found here:
Clinica Esperanza Backgrounder (PDF)
Clinica Esperanza Fact Sheet (PDF)
Clinica Esperanza Mission Statement (PDF)
Clinica Esperanza Population Served Fact Sheet (PDF)