Lutheran Hospital – Hispanic Clinic

Cleveland, OH
October 2017

Overview
Lutheran Hospital, a Cleveland Clinic hospital, has an Hispanic Clinic that offers bilingual health care services to Cleveland’s West Side Hispanic community, which is largely Puerto Rican. The Clinic works with the community to address medical issues and provide cultural understanding to patients and their families. The Hispanic Clinic offers consultation, education and preventative care to meet the unique needs of the growing Hispanic community. By providing an option that overcomes language barriers, physicians and staff provide tailored care, including education regarding dietary, religious and family customs that affect ethnic-specific chronic and acute disease.

Impact
The Hispanic Clinic treats nearly 5,000 patients annually and has seen a continual increase in volume since opening in 2015. Increased demand for access has resulted in expansion of bilingual staff, including two internal medicine physicians, a nurse practitioner and support from general surgery and gastroenterology.

Lessons Learned
One of the biggest challenges is providing physicians and staff fluent in Spanish, the language preferred by Hispanic consumers. Identifying appropriate bilingual staff in various specialties has delayed future growth initiatives.

Future Goals
Currently, the Hispanic Clinic’s specialists and outpatient primary care are located on two separate floors of the hospital. Future plans include expanding the Clinic’s space to locate all Spanish-speaking providers in one location. Additionally, the hospital is focused on increasing its community outreach and marketing initiatives to further meet the needs of its Hispanic community through educational programming and advertising on La Mega (87.7 FM), a Hispanic radio station in Northeast Ohio.

Contact: Matthew Mattner
Chief Operating Officer
Telephone: 216-363-2275
Email: mattnem@ccf.org