uninsured Latinos have access to several health centers that provide medical services for free or on a sliding fee scale. Some public health clinics, such as Alivio Medical Center, exist to fulfill the bilingual and bicultural health care needs of the Latino community.

“It is absolutely necessary to have a community health center be culturally sensitive and speak the language because the patient is coming to you for one of the most personal things he [or she] could come to another human being,” Carmen Velásquez, executive director of the Alivio medical center.

South Side resident Juana Matuz, 61, has been a patient at the center for the last 10 years. And while she’s had to use other clinics and hospitals in the past, she says she feels most comfortable dealing with the Alivio’s staff.

“At those clinics, I needed an interpreter, because their doctors didn’t speak Spanish,” Matuz said. “And you never know if they’re really telling the doctors what you’re saying. And here, well, everyone speaks your language.”