{"id":5064274,"date":"2026-01-06T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/illatinonews.com\/?p=5064274"},"modified":"2026-01-06T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:00:00","slug":"healing-across-borders-illinois-doctor-brings-his-heart-back-to-bolivia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/2026\/01\/06\/healing-across-borders-illinois-doctor-brings-his-heart-back-to-bolivia\/","title":{"rendered":"Healing Across Borders: Illinois Doctor Brings His Heart Back to Bolivia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For Dr. Alvaro Encinas, medicine is about more than prescribing treatment\u2014it\u2019s about helping people recognize their own power to heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy favorite thing about being a doctor is making a difference in one\u2019s life and being a positive force for patients to make a positive change,\u201d he said. \u201cIt comes to basic things like diet and exercise. Trying to educate patients that they have all the tools available. They just need to learn how to use those tools, how to use food as medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Illinois-based family physician, Encinas has spent 14 years caring for patients \u201cfrom cradle to grave.\u201d But once a year, he travels to Bolivia, the birthplace of his parents and grandparents, to volunteer with Solidarity Bridge, a nonprofit that partners with local hospitals to expand access to surgical and medical care for those most in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For over a decade, Dr. Encinas has worked to improve health care for Illinois\u2019 Latino communities, including in his former role as regional medical director at the Lake County Health Department, serving Spanish-speaking patients in Waukegan and Round Lake Beach until 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A longtime Chicago resident, he led the Bolivian American Medical Society for 10 years, a Chicago-based organization advancing medical education, supporting hospitals and organizing medical missions in Bolivia, reflecting his career-long dedication to improving health care access both locally and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Alvaro Encinas partnering with the local medical team at the Tiquipaya Hospital during a 2025 Solidarity Bridge medical mission trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia.<\/em><\/sub>\/ Solidarity Bridge<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encinas first learned about the organization at a Bolivian American Medical Society event in Chicago. He met the organization\u2019s leaders and was impressed with their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI went on a medical mission a year later, and then a year later became part of the board,” said Dr. Encinas. This fall marked his seventh mission trip with the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During mission weeks, he sees familiar health challenges, \u201clots of diabetes, hypertension and back pain,\u201d but in a very different context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Bolivia, it\u2019s a lot of access-to-care issues,\u201d he said. \u201cBack home, if I need to get a patient to a specialist, I can do it in a week or two. In Bolivia, it can take much longer, and a lot can go on between when you put in the referral and when they can be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What keeps him coming back, he says, is the commitment to long-term care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne unique thing about Solidarity Bridge is that we have a base here in Bolivia. So yes, we come here for seven or eight days on a mission, but there\u2019s a whole group of people who follow up with patients after we leave,” said Dr. Encinas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trips also reconnect him with his roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can understand their colloquialisms, their diet. It allows me to relate to patients better,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd when you see a patient who\u2019s waited hours just to see you and they\u2019re so grateful, it reminds you why you became a physician.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSolidarity Bridge allows me to combine two loves of my life, medicine and Bolivia,\u201d said Dr. Encinas. \u201cI\u2019m able to travel to the birthplace of my parents and grandparents and, of course, practice medicine to serve those patients that I meet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Solidarity Bridge is a 501c3 organization based in Evanston, IL, that increases access to safe and affordable surgical care to low-income patients in Bolivia and Paraguay. With our partners, we operate four year-round surgical programs and supply medical equipment to local hospitals, physicians, and patients. Through year-round virtual exchanges and short-term medical mission trips, we connect US medical practitioners to their peers in each country. Learn more: <\/em>SolidarityBridge.org<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feature Image: Dr. Alvaro Encinas treating a patient during a 2025 Solidarity Bridge medical mission in Cochabamba, Bolivia.\/ Solidarity Bridge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Dr. Alvaro Encinas, medicine is about empowering patients to heal themselves, whether in Illinois\u2019 Latino communities or on medical missions in Bolivia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5064358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[315,454],"tags":[378,176,453,17,23,165,18,25,455],"ppma_author":[452],"class_list":["post-5064274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-presente","category-illn-partners","tag-bolivia","tag-chicago","tag-doctor","tag-hispanic","tag-hispanics","tag-illinois","tag-latino","tag-latinos","tag-solidarity"],"acf":[],"mb":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/01\/IMG_7074-scaled-1.jpg",2560,1712,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/01\/IMG_7074-scaled-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/01\/IMG_7074-scaled-1-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/01\/IMG_7074-scaled-1-768x514.jpg",768,514,true],"large":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/01\/IMG_7074-scaled-1-1024x685.jpg",1024,685,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/01\/IMG_7074-scaled-1-1536x1027.jpg",1536,1027,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/01\/IMG_7074-scaled-1-2048x1370.jpg",2048,1370,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"LNN","author_link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/author\/jermainesmith\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"For Dr. Alvaro Encinas, medicine is about empowering patients to heal themselves, whether in Illinois\u2019 Latino communities or on medical missions in Bolivia.","authors":[{"term_id":452,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"solidarity-bridge","display_name":"Solidarity Bridge","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"mfb_rest_fields":["title","uagb_featured_image_src","uagb_author_info","uagb_comment_info","uagb_excerpt","authors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5064274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5064274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5064274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5064358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5064274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5064274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5064274"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/illn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=5064274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}