We Know Your Community Because We’ve Been Part of It Since 1970

AltaMed began more than 50 years ago as the East LA Barrio Free Clinic on Whittier Boulevard. Our founders could not understand why vibrant, diverse communities were not better served by major hospitals and health care systems. Then, in 1977 while we were still just a storefront clinic, community organizer and activist Cástulo de la Rocha saw his friends standing in a blocks-long line to access basic services and knew he needed to get involved.

Today, AltaMed provides medical care and services to more than 300,000 individuals throughout the Southland every year.

However, Our Work Is Far From Finished

We are dedicated to eliminating disparities in health care access and outcomes for multiethnic communities all over Southern California and what that means is understanding the unique needs of everyone we serve but then putting that in the context that takes into consideration their ethnicity, their gender, and even their neighborhood – for example, if we know someone comes from a group that’s more likely to have higher risks for heart disease, we look not only at clinical interventions but community resources that can help them live healthier. And if those community resources aren’t available, we do everything we can, including working with elected officials, to help make them a reality.

Your Community Health Network

Thanks to our workforce development program and a medical residency that emphasizes local service, our staff and physicans reflect the neighborhoods they serve – because they're from the neighborhoods we serve.