Esperanza Center Health Services Clinic

Member of the Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) Alliance

Embracing the Culture of Caring

The Esperanza Center Health Services Clinic provides free medical and dental services to immigrants in the metropolitan Baltimore region who do not qualify for health insurance and who do not have the economic means to pay for health care. The clinic, which is operated on the second floor of the three-story center, offers no-cost quality primary and preventive care for adults and children. Services are provided by dedicated volunteers and staff, in partnership with St. Agnes Hospital and Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, on both a walk-in and by-appointment basis.

Thanks to our many generous volunteers and donors, plus our wonderful nurse practioners, Health Services is able to offer expanded hours for our walk-in (no appointment needed) clinics:

A new Ophthalmologist will start seeing patients on a monthly basis starting Saturday Feb. 2, 2013. To see the opthalmologist, you must have an appointment (no walk-ins!). Call us at 443-825-3450 to get on the waiting list.

To view the Esperanza Center Mission and Vision please click here. 

Patient Eligibility

The Esperanza Health Services Clinic, a primary care clinic providing services free-of-charge, was established to help meet the health and wellness needs of the medically-indigent community served by the Associated Catholic Charities Esperanza Center. The clinic only serves individuals who are ineligible to enroll in medical insurance programs due to the following circumstances:

• Ineligibility for Medicaid, Medicare, or PAC*
• Not meeting the 5-year residency requirement to apply for Medicaid; and
• Rejection from insurance programs on the basis of financial or employment
   status

*Patients are ineligible for government medical assistance for reasons including, but not limited to, pending legal status, refugee or asylum status, and/or holding temporary visas and work permits.

Services offered

Esperanza Center Health Services offers the following services provided by our volunteer physicians, dentists, health care provider partners and staff:

•  Well woman care
•  Adult and pediatric primary and urgent care
•  Adult mental health care
•  Adult and pediatric preventive dental care
•  Ophthalmology (vision care)
•  Neurology
•  Referrals to other specialists as needed

Other Services Provided

• Free eyeglasses through the Maryland Society for Sight
• Monthly immunizations through the Baltimore City Health Department
• HIV and STD screening through the Baltimore City Health Department

New Report on Latino Health Available 

 The 2011 report on city-wide Latino health in Baltimore has been released by the Mayor's office. You can download a copy here (PDF).

If you are a physician or dentist and would be willing to accept an occasional patient on a pro bono basis, please contact us at 443-825-3450 or bhacksha@cc-md.org.

Volunteers in Medicine

Volunteers in Medicine is a national program with a history of success in other communities around the country. The first clinic, led by a group of retired medical professionals, was established in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Today, that clinic provides care for more than 20,000 patient visits a year and has served as a model for over 75 additional Volunteers in Medicine clinics in cities across the United States.  The Esperanza Center Health Services Clinic is the first VIM Clinic to be established in the State of Maryland.