Our Story

Clínica Tepeyac’s roots were established in 1993, when members of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, located in one of Denver’s low-income and primarily Latino neighborhoods on the northwest side, decided to address a problem they saw firsthand: the lack of health care for working poor individuals and families. The original founders included Marshall Gourley (Former Pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe) and Jim Garcia (President of the Parish Council). Mr. Garcia conducted a needs assessment on health issues in April 1993. The assessment revealed:

• Working poor in the community, many with two or three jobs, had no health insurance and little or no access to health care they could afford.
• Drug/alcohol abuse and teen pregnancy were of primary concern to parishioners and community stakeholders.
• Local residents were at greater risk of heart disease, diabetes, low birth weight, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, suicide, accidents, cancer and teen pregnancy.
• There were several barriers to health care access - language, cost, available services, etc.

In 2005, Clínica Tepeyac began negotiations with Denver Health and Hospitals, the City and County of Denver, and Councilwoman Judy Montero to acquire a former DHH clinic located in north Denver that had been closed since 2003. The organization received a Community Development Block Grant to purchase the building and raised capital funds for renovations and furnishings.

On December 1, 2006, Clínica Tepeyac moved into its new clinic facility and began seeing patients. In 2007, the number of patients doubled over the previous year to 8,000. In 2008, the number increased to 12,000. The trend in 2009 is to host 18,000 patient visits. In addition, clinic services have expanded to include the full range of preventive and primary care delivered in a family medicine model, creating a true medical home for thousands of uninsured families in the Denver metropolitan area.

Since its founding, Clínica Tepeyac has grown tremendously and become a model for providing health education, prevention, and primary medical services to the Latino population. Clínica Tepeyac also refers patients requiring specialty care to the community of providers willing to accept these uninsured and underserved patients. In addition, Clínica Tepeyac carries out a robust program of preventive health education in the community, teaching thousands about health care services, preventive care and self care.