La Clínica lowers cultural and language barriers for Latino/Hispanic adults and children
Brooklyn, NY, March 2, 2026 – For too long, Spanish-speaking New Yorkers have had only limited options for culturally responsive mental health care.
The language and cultural barriers that often keep Spanish-speaking patients in the United States from getting the health care they need are compounded by the stigma surrounding mental health.
La Clínica at Maimonides Health is helping to fill that gap with an outpatient mental health program specifically for Latino/Hispanic adults and children, a safe space where patients feel truly seen, heard, and supported. Fourteen providers in a dedicated team support patients and each other – psychiatrists who prescribe medications, therapists, case managers. Most identify as Hispanic or Latino, and all speak Spanish. All services and resources are in Spanish, including therapy groups for women and for men.
“I’ve seen on countless occasions the difference it makes to have a provider who can understand and appreciate the role of things like religion, family, immigration trauma, etc.,” Bárbara Trejo-Ortega, MD, Attending Psychiatrist at Maimonides Health and Director of La Clínica, wrote in an op-ed published in El Diario. “Patients tell us nearly every day that they feel seen, understood, and even free to share jokes and food.”
Last year alone Maimonides outpatient psychiatry services saw 600–700 Spanish-speaking adults and young people seeking help for mental health challenges like anxiety and depression. That total goes up when you add in people who came in through other specialties or the Emergency Department.
La Clínica is part of Maimonides Health’s ongoing investment in expanding access to mental health care. In July 2025, the health system opened a new Psychiatric Emergency Department (ED) that expanded the facility to nearly four times its previous space and created a more welcoming environment with greater privacy for patients and families. Upcoming developments include building Southern Brooklyn’s first Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program and an Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatric Unit. In 2025, Maimonides was also designated as Brooklyn’s first Stigma-Free Zone by the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI).
“At Maimonides, we are deeply committed to meeting the diverse mental health needs of our community,” said Abraham M. Taub, MD, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Maimonides Health. “Through innovative programs like La Clínica, we’re expanding culturally responsive, language-accessible services for our patients and leading access to high-quality mental health care in Brooklyn.”
Learn more about mental and behavioral health services at Maimonides Health.
About Maimonides Health
Maimonides Health is Brooklyn’s largest healthcare system, providing more than 1 million patient visits each year through the system’s three hospitals, 1,800+ physicians, and more than 80 community-based practices and outpatient centers. Our system is anchored by Maimonides Medical Center, one of the nation’s largest independent teaching hospitals and home to centers of excellence in numerous specialties; Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital (formerly New York Community Hospital), a 130-bed adult medical–surgical hospital; and Maimonides Children’s Hospital, Brooklyn’s only children’s hospital and only pediatric trauma center.
Maimonides’ clinical programs rank among the best in the country for patient outcomes, including our Heart and Vascular Institute, Neurosciences Institute, Bone and Joint Center, and Cancer Center. For additional information, please visit www.maimo.org and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.