The public health clinic at the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department has been officially renamed the Pat Lopez Health Clinic, honoring the former health director’s decades of service to the community.
The dedication ceremony was held on the north steps of the Health Department building, where city leaders and Lopez’s family unveiled the clinic’s new name. Lopez died in March of last year after a long career in public health leadership.
“Pat Lopez was a steadfast protector of our community members, a source of wisdom and strength in the most challenging moments, and a public health hero whose legacy will endure for generations,” says Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird.
Gaylor Baird praised Lopez for guiding Lancaster County through the COVID-19 pandemic, saying her leadership helped make the county one of the safest in the nation for communities of its size. Lopez first joined the Health Department in 1975 as a public health nurse and spent nearly three decades developing programs for vulnerable residents and underserved neighborhoods.
After retiring in 2004, she continued working on public health initiatives statewide and nationally, including efforts to strengthen Nebraska’s public health system. Lopez’s daughter, Nicole Lopez, said the recognition reflects her mother’s lifelong commitment to compassion, resilience, and putting others first.
“It means more than words can say to see her life and her work remembered this way,” Lopez said. “Her grace, her courage and her unwavering determination to put others first are gifts she gave to all of us.”
The Pat Lopez Health Clinic is located at the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department at 31st and O Streets.
(Photos: City of Lincoln)