Nuestra Clinica del Valle: Comprehensive Healthcare in Hidalgo and Starr Counties
By: Mason Howell
Published: May 19, 2025
Updated: May 19, 2025
Nuestra Clinica del Valle, Inc. (NCDV), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with administrative offices in San Juan, Hidalgo County, Texas, was established in 1971 as the Migrant Program of the local health department to serve migrant laborers in the lower Rio Grande Valley. In 1978 the clinic became a Federally Qualified Health Center and expanded its focus beyond migrant patients to cover the entire population of Hidalgo County and neighboring Starr County. The clinic’s mission is to provide comprehensive, affordable care to the region’s residents, a largely vulnerable and underserved patient population.
The need for accessible, affordable health care services is particularly strong in Starr and Hidalgo counties, which have a high number of low-income, medically vulnerable people. Approximately one-third of the residents live below the federal poverty line, one-third are uninsured, and the unemployment rate is consistently above the national average of about 4 percent. In early 2025 the unemployment rate hovered around 6 percent in Hidalgo County and 10 percent in Starr County. The counties are home to many migrant and seasonal workers, many of whom have limited or no health benefits and little financial security. NCDV’s clients include the uninsured, migrant workers and their families, and medically indigent patients. More than 90 percent are Hispanic. In 2019, for example, NCDV saw 27,110 patients—82 percent had incomes below the federal poverty line, and 80 percent had no public or private health insurance. To accommodate these financial barriers, NCDV offers services on a sliding pay scale. In the 2020s the population serviced by NCDV has grown to more than 900,000 people.
Over its history, NCDV has grown to include eleven clinics across Starr and Hidalgo counties, including two clinics attached to elementary schools. Clinics are located in the communities of Mission, Donna, Alton, Edcouch, Mercedes, San Juan, Roma, and Rio Grande City. NCDV clinics offer a variety of services, including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, laboratory testing, radiology, nutrition, dental, and social support. Mental health care services were added in 2006, and treatment has evolved to include a behavioral health department that also provides telehealth services. NCDV employs more than forty providers, including physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, and professionals in the field of behavioral health.
Nuestra Clinica del Valle is overseen by a board of directors. Consumers make up 51 percent of the board, while the remaining directors are professionals from many fields, including medicine, dentistry, finance, law, education, and community service. Funding for NCDV comes from a combination of contributions, grants, and service charges, with the majority of funding coming from contributions and grants. Revenue in 2023 totaled $22.8 million, with approximately $9.4 million from service revenue, $12.4 million from contributions, and just over $1 million from other revenue sources. As of 2025 Lucy Ramirez Torres served as chief executive officer.
Bibliography:
Nuestra Clinica del Valle (https://nuestraclinicadelvalle.org/), accessed May 6, 2025. Nuestra Clinica Del Valle Inc, Nonprofit Explorer, ProPublica (https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/741721807?utm_source=chatgpt.com), accessed May 6, 2025.
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Mason Howell, “Nuestra Clinica del Valle,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/nuestra-clinica-del-valle.
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- May 19, 2025
- May 19, 2025
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