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East Aldine is gaining a state-of-the art, full-service medical clinic and community center tailored to elderly Hispanic residents.

The bilingual Suvida Neighborhood Center and Clinic, at 2505 Aldine Mail Route Road, is almost within sneezing distance of the East Aldine Management District’s Town Center. Business development along the corridor has increased now that the town center has boosted community services, activities and public safety initiatives.

The clinic will bring about 50 jobs to the neighborhood, including specially trained community workers known as guias (Spanish for guides), who will assist patients and their families with fully integrated medical care.

(See below for info about the clinic’s Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022 open house).

Dr. Ordóñez

Suvida, founded in 2021, is building three such clinics in the Houston area and one in the Austin area, with a focus on the elderly Hispanic population because that is “the fastest growing group” in Texas, medical director Dr. Adolfo Ordóñez said.

According to the 2020 Census, Texas’ 29.1 million residents include 875,000 Hispanics over age 60. The U.S. Bureau of the Census estimates that the 4.63 million Hispanic Americans over age 65 nationwide will more than double by the year 2030.

Suvida’s East Aldine facility will be its Houston-area flagship center, Ordóñez said.

“We want to create a model that our elderly patients will come to and say, ‘We feel the love here.’ We want it to be top-of-the-line, so that we can make a difference in the health and life of the entire community. “

The center will feature a roomy, comfortable, brightly lit waiting area with a coffee bar, private treatment rooms and a community room for classes and gatherings.

“Our main focus is on…  those people who have lived long enough to get their red-white-and-blue Medicare card,” Ordóñez said. “Our goal is to be a neighborhood-oriented Hispanic clinic.”

Ordóñez, a native of Guatemala, has practiced medicine in the Houston area for 12 years. He will be joined at the East Aldine Suvida clinic by five other medical doctors and a team that will include a clinical pharmacist, physical therapists, and the guias.

“We’re building a place where families will say, ‘We want to bring our relatives here’,”  he explained.

To foster that feeling, the Suvida center will host group activities such as  a “loteria (lottery) night” so that caregivers can drop off their elderly relatives for the evening.

The community health workers will follow up patients to support their treatment plans.

“The health problems that are prevalent in the Hispanic community include diabetes, high cholesterol and respiratory issues,” Ordóñez said. “Their main problem may be access to health care right now.”

Some of those health issues “have been decades in the making,” so following a lifestyle-oriented treatment plan can be key to better health, he added.

“Everybody loves good Mexican food, so maybe we can start with the food that we eat as young people and make healthier adjustments,” Ordóñez said. “Our nutritional team is willing to help them continue the flavors they love in a healthier way, or just to adjust the quantity.”

The clinic will encourage caregivers to attend doctor’s appointments and work with the community health workers.

“We will even have home visits, to ensure that their insulin is in the refrigerator. Or that they have a refrigerator,” Ordóñez said.

Some elderly Hispanics “may have had to leave their home countries without any family members,” he said, so they could be in vulnerable situations.

Suvida will partner with local food banks to guarantee that patients have ample nutrition, according to the medical director.

Suvida Fest is a free public event on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2-5 p.m. Participants will receive produce from a farmers market and enjoy food, mariachi music, games, prizes and more.

Visit https://www.suvidahealthcare.com/, call 888-478-8432 (888-4SU-VIDA), or e-mail [email protected] for more information.

— by Anne Marie Kilday