Does Your Zip Code Determine Your Life Expectancy? | With Dr. Lyssa Ochoa

“Your zip code shouldn’t determine your life expectancy—but in many American cities, it does.” In this eye-opening conversation, San Antonio vascular surgeon Dr. Lyssa Ochoa talks with us, your hosts Camille Hall-Ortega and Marcus Goodyear, about the stark health disparities in our communities. She highlights a 20-year gap in life expectancy between San Antonio neighborhoods just miles apart. This issue has complicated roots—including historical practices like redlining—and today, some communities are seeing higher rates of diabetes, amputations, and other chronic illnesses. Through her work at the SAVE Clinic, Dr. Ochoa advocates fiercely for equitable healthcare, investing in underserved neighborhoods, and offering compassionate, accessible care. Join us as we discuss why true community health means caring for our neighbors.

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Episode Notes:

• Echoes Magazine feature on Dr. Ochoa: “What My Patients Are Facing Is Beyond Medical Need”
  
  
• Know Your Neighbor: “Making San Antonio” with Dr. Christine Drennon of Trinity University

• Laity Lodge: “Becoming a Beloved Community” by Michelle Lugalia-Hollon
  
  
• SAVE Clinic (San Antonio Vascular and Endovascular Clinic) founded by Dr. Lyssa Ochoa

• Dr. Roberto Treviño and the National Diabetes Prevention Program
  
  
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Social Determinants of Health framework
  
  
• San Antonio Report: Southside economic growth offers opportunity to work toward healthy equity
  
  
• San Antonio Report: Medical group ordered to pay $8M for Medicare fraud to lay off employees, close locations
  
  
• South Bexar County Medical Needs Assessment Report 2023
  
  
• San Antonio Express-News: Losing Limbs to a Terrible Disease
  
  
• CBS Morning News: “Less about people and more about profits”: Investors’ role in closure of San Antonio Hospital Under Scrutiny
  
  

Production Team:

Written and produced by Camille Hall-Ortega, Rob Stennett, and Marcus Goodyear

Edited by Rob Stennett and Kim Stone

Executive Producers: Patton Dodd and David Rogers

Graphic Design Manager: Hilary Commer

Junior Designer: Lindsay Bruce

Content Creator: Alyson Amestoy

Staff Writer: Beth Avila

Writer: Elizabeth Coffee

Funded by the H. E. Butt Foundation

Special thanks to our guest Dr. Lyssa Ochoa for highlighting health disparities and advocating passionately for equitable healthcare in our communities.