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1969
East LA Barrio Free Clinic opens
A core group of Brown Berets launches the East LA Barrio Free Clinic. It relies entirely on grants and donations, briefly closing in December 1970 due to lack of funding.
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1970
A death galvanizes the movement
Chicano college students and Brown Berets continue to lead anti-war demonstrations around the country. On August 29, police break up a march with more than 20,000 participants in East LA.
Twenty-four-year old Brown Beret Gloria Arellanes is on stage when a helicopter begins dropping canisters of tear gas on the march. Reporter Ruben Salazar is killed at the Silver Dollar Bar when the sheriff’s deputy throws a can of tear gas that hits him in the head. The incident is permanently captured in Frank Romero’s Death of Ruben Salazar (1986), and a silkscreen print is included in the AltaMed Art Collection.
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1977
Cástulo de la Rocha joins the mission
Cástulo de la Rocha joins La Clinica Familiar del Barrio for a three-month assignment. He is one of the clinic’s first paid employees.
Seeing a line outside the clinic, he sees an opportunity to fulfill a need for culturally inclusive, expert medical care in his neighborhood. Under the Urban Health Initiative, the clinic becomes a community health center, meaning it has at least 51% consumer representation on its board and can begin supporting itself with medical coverage from its patients.
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1978
East LA Barrio Free Clinic becomes La Clinica Familiar del Barrio
Gloria Arellanes and other female Brown Berets leave the group. Arellanes organizes Las Adelitas de Aztlán and replaces the East LA Barrio Free Clinic with La Clinica Familiar del Barrio.
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1982
First Adult Day Health Care Center opens
La Clinica Familiar del Barrio opens its first Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) center in the basement of a church.
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1986
AltaMed is born
La Clinica Familiar del Barrio is renamed as AltaMed Health Services.
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1986
Second clinic opens in Pico Rivera
After a 17-year history, we open our second clinic in Pico Rivera, at Slauson Plaza.
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1986
First million-dollar grant
A Multi-Purpose Senior Services Program (MSSP) is established with a $1 million grant – our largest grant to date.
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1987
The AltaMed Foundation is Established
The AltaMed Foundation raises funds to increase access to health and human services and reduce health care disparities in communities across Southern California. The Foundation provides financial assistance and works with AltaMed to provide education, community programs, and services that address the social determinants of health.
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1987
Subtance abuse and HIV services added
We win a contract for a substance abuse treatment program, which includes funding for HIV services.
The BuenaCare Methadone and HIV Services program opens in Lincoln Heights, eventually relocating to Boyle Heights in 1993.
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1993
HIV testing mobile unit rolls out
We receive funds from the Department of Health Services to launch our first HIV testing mobile unit. Between 1987 and 1991, new AIDS cases among Latinos reported in LA County rose by 9%.
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1996
AltaMed PACE debuts
We transition our ADHC center to a PACE demonstration site: Senior BuenaCare PACE, a managed care product serving Medicare and Medi-Cal-eligible seniors.
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1997
Mobile health unit launches
We acquire our first mobile health unit, serving the community with glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure screenings, as well as providing health education and information.
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2002
CMS approves AltaMed PACE status
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approves a request for AltaMed to become a permanent PACE organization on November 1.
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2005
Partnership with CHLA
We open a general pediatrics outpatient clinic at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
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2006
A growing presence in East LA
We establish primary care clinics at the Ramona Gardens, Estrada Courts, and William Mead housing developments, respectively in Lincoln Heights, East Los Angeles, and Chinatown.
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2008
Now serving Orange County
We build a medical-dental presence in Orange County for the first time by merging with Community Care Health Centers.
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2008
IPA network launches
We launch our Independent Practice Association (IPA), building a network of affiliated clinics across our service areas.
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2009
Orange County expansion
We purchase Universal Care, acquiring its employees and four additional sites in Orange County.
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2011
Recognition from the Joint Commission
We receive a Primary Care Medical Home designation from the Joint Commission. Certification is about patient-centered care and focuses on educating patients on self-management.
Joint Commission certification encompasses care coordination, access to care, and how effectively a primary care clinician and interdisciplinary team work in partnership with the patient.
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2012
AltaMed PACE network grows
California cuts ADHC funding and replaces ADHC with Community-Based Adult Services.
To keep the remaining sites open, we convert ADHC centers in Downey, Lynwood, and El Monte into PACE.
This is the first time we challenged the Department of Health Care Services to approve three PACE sites in one application. The majority of ADHC staff are able to stay employed with us, and are placed within the MSSP, PACE, and our medical clinics.
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2013
Covered California
In response to the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act and the 2013 launch of Covered California, we open two Health Insurance Resource Centers in Commerce and Santa Ana.
Employees provide Medi-Cal and Covered California enrollment guidance and we become Covered California’s top certified enrollment entity for several years in a row, earning a grant through the state’s Navigator Program.
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2016
Protection for the most vulnerable
We champion the historic Health for All Kids Act (SB4).
It passes, granting an estimated 170,000 undocumented children in California access to health care coverage under Medi-Cal.
As part of their successful advocacy efforts, AltaMed hosts events and engages community partners and elected officials. Most notably was then-State Senator Ricardo Lara, who initiated the $40 milllion allocation and additional $132 million each year to help make sure the children and families throughout California are covered.
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2017
Leveling the playing field
We effectively eliminate disparities in the areas of breast cancer screening, adolescent immunizations, and A1c and retinal screenings
among those patients who are commercially insured, uninsured, and insured by Medi-Cal or Medicare.
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2018
A groundbreaking art experience
We launch Building Bridges: Chicano/Mexican Art from Los Angeles to Mexico City, the first leg of what will be a traveling exhibit of Chicano and Mexican art from the AltaMed Art Collection.
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2019
Expanding reach, offerings, and opportunities
We renew our focus on civic engagement, supporting local voter registration and participation, providing community workshops on citizenship, and facilitating dialogue around public policy.
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2019
An employment milestone
We are now home to more than 3,000 employees.
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2019
MyAltaMed
We launched MyAltaMed, a new mobile-friendly patient portal, allowing patients to communicate with their doctors, request telehealth appointments, refill prescriptions, access test results, and more.
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2020
COVID-19 Response
We established mobile testing and evaluation sites throughout our communities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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2020
New PACE Site
We opened AltaMed PACE – Long Beach.
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2020
Residency Program
We welcomed the first cohort of AltaMed Family Medicine Residents to our new Residency Program.
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2021
COVID-19 Vaccination Milestones
By March, we had vaccinated more than 80,000 community members against COVID-19, a testament of our efforts to educate our communities about coronavirus through multiple campaigns encouraging vaccination.
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2021
PACE Expands in OC
We opened AltaMed PACE – Anaheim and AltaMed PACE – Santa Ana.
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2021
AltaMed PACE 25th Anniversary
We celebrated 25 years of AltaMed PACE and the more than 3,500 participants the program has supported.
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2021
AltaMed Acquires New Locations
We acquired four Crown City Medical Group clinics in Los Angeles, now:
o AltaMed Medical Group – Huntington Park, Rugby
o AltaMed Medical Group – Florence-Firestone
o AltaMed Medical Group – El Monte, Santa Anita
o AltaMed Medical Group – Pasadena
o AltaMed Medical Group – Huntington Park, Rugby
o AltaMed Medical Group – Florence-Firestone
o AltaMed Medical Group – El Monte, Santa Anita
o AltaMed Medical Group – Pasadena
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2022
PACE Continues to Grow
We moved our AltaMed PACE – Downey location to a new Norwalk location. AltaMed PACE now cares for more than 4,000 participants.
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2022
AltaMed and the Arts
The “In Your Face: Chicano Art After CARA” AltaMed Art Collection exhibit opened in Italy.
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2022
New Education Initiatives
We launched our new LVN to RN Pathway Program and other training programs, supporting over 160 nurses to advance their careers.
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2022
Innovations in Cardiology
We established the Cardiology Physician Champion, dedicated to advancing cardiology services. Our providers expand their knowledge of cardiology to help patients manage cardiovascular risk and decrease ER visits.
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2022
AltaMed Plus Launches
We launched AltaMed Plus™, a new, team-centric senior care program designed to meet the individual needs and improve the overall health of our senior patients.
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2022
AltaMed Now
We launched AltaMed Now, a telehealth service that allows us to provide 24/7 care.
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2023
Advances in Women’s Health Care
We partnered with United Medical Imaging to create a mammography suite in our Commerce clinic, making mammograms more accessible to our patients.
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2023
Expansion Continues
We acquired Clinica Medica Hispana Medical Corporation, now AltaMed Medical Group – Paramount.
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2023
ChapCare by AltaMed
We acquired eight Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (ChapCare) clinics and introduced AltaMed to the San Gabriel Valley.
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2024
Physicians from Mexico
We partnered with the Licensed Physicians from Mexico Pilot Program (LPMPP) and welcomed seven new physicians who provide culturally and linguistically aligned care to our patients. We are the first in Southern California to participate in this program.
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2024
We Continue to Grow Healthy
We officially reached 5,000 employees.
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2024
55 Years of Community
We turned 55!
It is a privilege to celebrate our first 55 years. As we look ahead to the next 50, we honor those who have carried us forward, given us purpose, and remain beside us. I thank you for joining us on this journey and helping us make a difference.
- Cástulo de la Rocha, President and CEO
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