Here is what Doctor Matt actually is, before anything else: a video visit with a Colombian physician who speaks Spanish natively, available to anyone in El Paso — Segundo Barrio, Ysleta, the Northeast, Horizon City — from a phone or a laptop, with nothing to install. Two things are worth knowing up front. This is telehealth from Colombia, not a clinic in El Paso; there is no local address to drive to. And it is not for emergencies — for chest pain, trouble breathing or signs of a stroke, call 911. With that clear: the visit is a flat $68 USD, one payment, no membership, with or without insurance. You can pay and book online here.
A city where Spanish is the first language, not the accommodation
El Paso does not have a Hispanic community so much as it is one. Around eight in ten residents are Latino, overwhelmingly of Mexican origin, and plenty of families have been here longer than Texas has been a state. Paired with Ciudad Juárez across the river, it forms a single border region where people cross the bridge for work, for school, or to check on a grandmother — and where Spanish is the language of the corner store, the school pickup line and the waiting room.
South of downtown, Segundo Barrio has been the landing place for families crossing the river since the 1880s, earning it the nickname "the other Ellis Island." It is also where, in 1967, neighborhood women organized a clinic inside a tenement — the origin of what is today Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe — because people in the barrio were waiting until they were seriously ill before seeking any care. Next door, Chamizal, the neighborhood pressed against the Rio Grande and permanently reshaped by the 1960s treaty that moved the border and displaced thousands of residents, remains one of the poorest and most heavily immigrant parts of the city, with the large majority of households in the low- and moderate-income range.
Southeast of there, the Lower Valley — Mission Valley — takes in Ysleta, Socorro and San Elizario: mission towns founded more than three centuries ago along the river, still farm-rooted, home to the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, and the most affordable housing in the county. Further east, Horizon City, Clint and the county's colonias keep growing, some still working decades on to secure reliable drinking water, sewer service and paved roads. Across the rest of the city — the Northeast alongside Fort Bliss, the Eastside and Pebble Hills, the West Side, the Upper Valley and the streets around UTEP — the pattern repeats: working families, many of them mixed-status, on schedules that do not match clinic hours.
Why getting seen is hard here — and what a video visit actually fixes
El Paso is not short on good community medicine. La Fe in Segundo Barrio, Project Vida a few blocks north of the river, Centro San Vicente with sites on Alameda, in San Elizario and on Pebble Hills, and the county's University Medical Center, which treats patients regardless of their ability to pay. The obstacle is rarely that care does not exist; it is getting to it and getting an appointment.
- Coverage: roughly one in four county residents under 65 has no health insurance, well above the Texas average. For many households the realistic options are a sliding-scale clinic or the ER.
- Time, not just money: an appointment can be weeks out, and going means asking off, driving and waiting. For people working shifts in warehouses and logistics, in hospitals or on Fort Bliss, half a lost day costs as much as the bill.
- Distance is real: the county is long and spread out. From San Elizario or a colonia out east, "going to the doctor" is a serious trip down the I-10 or Alameda, and not every family has a second car.
- Fear gets in the way: in mixed-status households, people put off care rather than answer questions or leave a paper trail. A one-time payment with no insurance involved removes that friction.
- Language: even in a city this bilingual, you do not always get the provider who speaks Spanish — and half-explained symptoms are the fastest route to the wrong advice.
Telehealth does not solve any of that outright, and we are not going to claim it does. It solves one narrow piece: when what you have is a minor problem and you want to talk to a physician in Spanish today without giving up a day's pay.
How the video visit works
The process is simple and takes only a few minutes:
- Pay online: a single flat payment of $68 USD through the secure Bold platform.
- Pick a date and time: the calendar shows open slots in your own time zone.
- Join by video: connect from your phone or computer — nothing to install.
- Get your plan: the physician reviews your case and gives you clear guidance.
We see patients every day, including weekends, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Colombia time (GMT-5). Because El Paso is on Mountain Time, that lands at roughly 6:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. locally in summer and 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. in winter — early enough to fit before a shift. The visit reaches El Paso and all of the United States.
What the visit covers — including what El Paso springs bring
This visit is built for minor concerns that do not belong in an emergency room: colds and flu, cough, sore throat, upset stomach, questions about common symptoms and general health guidance. El Paso adds one seasonal regular to that list: the dust the spring winds lift off the Chihuahuan Desert, and pollen the city takes seriously enough that it has banned planting mulberry trees since 1992. If March reliably brings you itchy eyes, sneezing and congestion, read our guide to seasonal allergies.
You are seen by Colombian physicians who speak Spanish natively, which matters most when the patient is a parent or a grandparent who would otherwise be explaining symptoms through a relative. The doctor may suggest over-the-counter (OTC) products you can pick up at any CVS, Walgreens or Walmart in town — if the U.S. brand names are unfamiliar, see our guide to over-the-counter medicines in the U.S. — and walk you through home care.
Honest about what we are not
Doctor Matt is a video service run from Colombia. Our physicians are licensed in Colombia and hold no medical license in Texas or any other U.S. state, we do not issue prescriptions valid at U.S. pharmacies, and we have no physical office in El Paso — nothing on Mesa, on Alameda, in Zaragoza or anywhere else. We are also not a replacement for your community clinic or for the ER. What you get instead is a real conversation, in Spanish, with a physician who can point you toward safe over-the-counter options and tell you honestly when your case needs a Texas-licensed prescriber or hands-on care. That honesty is the product.
Emergencies: when to call 911
Telemedicine does not replace emergency care. If you have chest pain, trouble breathing, heavy bleeding or signs of a stroke, call 911 immediately or go to the nearest emergency room. For everyday minor concerns, we are here to help.
Ready to talk with a Spanish-speaking doctor from El Paso? Pay and book your video visit today and get care in your own language, with or without insurance.