For Martinez and La Bodega, recognition is a testament to people making it possible

When Anthony Martinez, MD, launched an inventive hepatology center within ECMC in 2013, he wasn’t trying to create a globally renowned initiative to treat a persistent issue or even earn accolades for doing it. He was simply trying to deliver treatment with humanity—and achieve effective results.

Eleven years after the launch of “La Bodega”—a comprehensive, co-localized hepatitis C center that works in partnership with social workers and community partners to treat those afflicted, focusing on treating those also struggling with addiction disorders—Dr. Martinez and his team have now accomplished all the aforementioned while continuing to grow their program.

As acknowledgement of its continued excellence, Dr. Martinez was recently named a 2024 Elimination Champion by the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination. According to details from the coalition, the award “recognizes outstanding individuals in acknowledgement of their contributions to health equity in the fight for global hepatitis elimination.” Dr. Martinez was one of eight individuals honored—and the only one from United States.

But according to him, the award isn’t recognition for his work. It’s a celebration of a program, what it’s become, and the people who’ve made its success possible.

“I’m the one who gets these awards and gets to talk about the program, but it’s the patients who’ve made this happen,” says Martinez, Medical Director of the Center for Hepatology Care at ECMC. “They’re the ones who’ve come into the center, who’ve trusted us. They’re the ones who’ve taken the treatments, who’ve been cured, who’ve earned our program its results. We get the awards, but each is representative of them and what they’ve meant to our program.” 

Empowering an unconventional idea

When Dr. Martinez arrived in Buffalo in 2012, he brought with him the lessons he learned from previous stops in New York City and San Diego. In both locales, he saw the possibility of providing a beacon for those suffering with addiction disorders, often on the fringes of healthcare treatment. This marginalized population is more susceptible to hepatitis C affliction, but often lack in direction or options for treatment.

Enter the initiation of La Bodega, with a name inspired by Spanish culture, and a supportive vibe symbolic of the welcoming, community ethos of street-corner grocery stores in residential city neighborhoods. The center would operate for the community, and by the community, with outreach and services intent on reaching, treating, and curing individuals who oftentimes slip through the cracks of healthcare.

And it would be devoted to leaning on the power genuine connection between patients and practitioners. No stuffy formality. No white coats. Patients get staff cell phone numbers and call them whenever they’re in need. This would be real—and it would achieve real, life-saving results.

It was a non-traditional idea for a large, typically traditional hospital system like ECMC. But when Dr. Martinez pitched the idea after arriving in the Queen City, his new employer was on board, willing to give him the right mix of operational support and freedom to thrive.

“I don’t think this could’ve happened anywhere else, to be honest with you,” says Dr. Martinez. “ECMC has given us a ton of autonomy, a ton of freedom and support to build out the program, and eventually, know it as La Bodega.”

Results reveal breakthrough

According to Dr. Martinez, the center has treated more than 7,200 patients diagnosed with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) since its launch in 2013. In that time, program personnel have worked with these patients to achieve a 98% cure rate.

This is a staggering rate of success, but it’s the result of a co-localized model that employs a personalized, all-hands-on-deck approach to achieve results. Dr. Martinez’s team of medical professionals work with an outreach team of social workers, who in turn partner with addiction facilities and others that service patients in need of treatment.

“We’ve embedded ourselves into the community, whether within addiction sites, primary care, pediatrics, and more. We’ve been really successful at partnering with these community-based sites because this is where our patients are; this is where they access care,” says Martinez. “If we’re going to provide the care they need, then we must be where they are. I don’t think any of our work can have an impact without these types of necessary partnerships, as well as a connection to the people.”

In addition to the activation of these partnerships, social workers stay in constant contact with those who’ve screened positive for HCV, and work with the center to overcome such common barriers as transportation and access to treatment—which is not always available to those still in the throes of addiction issues.

The reason the model works is simple: it was created in conjunction with the community’s needs.

 “It goes back to the community,” says Martinez “This is what they need, so can we innovate something to service them? To do this, you must pay attention, listen, and be present in every single moment to understand what they need—then develop something to answer that need.”

The program’s success has also inspired replicate initiatives across the U.S. and beyond, with versions of La Bodega now in 10 different states including California, Texas, and Washington. Over the past year alone, Dr. Martinez and his team have presented their findings nationally and internationally at more than 20 conferences, including the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) 2024 Liver Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and the 2024 EASL Congress in Milan, Italy.

 A future of continued care

Based on its success and accolades, Dr. Martinez and his La Bodega team could continue their current trajectory and support the World Health Organization’s goal of eliminating the hepatitis C virus by 2030.

Fortunately, they’re intent on evolving further to expand treatment and tackle virus-adjacent concerns such as fatty liver disease, a malady that currently affects more than 100 million Americans. This past year, the center became one of the first global operations to implement a same-day rapid start model for hepatitis C treatment, attending to more than 300 patients, including pregnant women. In the coming year, the center hopes to utilize new FDA-approved technology that could aid rapid diagnosis of HCV and accelerate elimination efforts, furthering their treatment capabilities.

But when considering a way forward, what’s important to Dr. Martinez and others associated with the program is that they’re guided down their expanded avenues with the same simplistic humanity that initially launched La Bodega. This love of people—and genuinely caring about them as individuals capable of restoring their lives—forms the foundation for the present and future of the initiative.

“We get asked all the time—why does it work? What’s the secret? And I say the secret’s

the people doing the work, the people receiving the treatment, and the connection between both,” says Martinez. “They teach you in providers school that you have boundaries between you and the patient. But in here, we tell patients we love them—with a capital L. That’s the secret. Love your people; live and die with them. That’s how they know you’re authentic, when you’re giving every single bit of yourself to connect with your team and your patients.”

To learn more about ECMC’s award-winning services, click here.