Dr. Diego Chaves-Gnecco, MD, grew up around medicine. His grandfather was the first endocrinologist in Colombia. His mother is also a physician and his father was a faculty at the School of Medicine. Dr. Chaves-Gnecco wondered if he wanted to follow the family line. But when a doctor healed his painful ear infection in high school, that sealed his decision. He wanted to make a difference like that in someone’s life.
Dr. Chaves-Gnecco is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, but he doesn’t limit his care to inside the hospital.
“I like to say that I’m a doctor beyond the doors of the exam room,” he says.
Dr. Chaves-Gnecco saw a need for services for Latino children in the region. So, he created the first pediatric bilingual-bicultural clinic in southwestern Pennsylvania twenty years ago. Today, Salud Para Niños (Health for the Children) provides culturally and linguistically appropriate primary care for people in the Latino community.
Dr. Chaves Gnecco has worked tirelessly to both bring care to the Latino community and raise its visibility. He works to educate and empower the community about health care and to provide access to COVID-19 vaccines and other important preventive care.
“I like to see myself as a doctor who speaks for those who don’t have a voice,” he says.
At UPMC, Life Changing Medicine means being there for everyone, especially those who need it most.
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