As she explained the process of kidney transplants to a patient, Dr. Graciela De Boccardo mentioned that speaking about transplants is like speaking “un nuevo idioma” (a new language).

Fortunately, for Bronx Spanish speakers with severe kidney problems, doctors like De Boccardo are now speaking the “new language” of transplants to Hispanic patients in their native tongue.

Established in the spring of 2009, Montefiore Medical Center’s Abdominal Transplant Clinic is open every Thursday to cater specifically to the Spanish-speaking community.

“People were losing kidneys because they didn’t understand what kidneys were,” De Boccardo said in an interview. “With the language, we think it is easier for them.”

More than 26 million Americans and some 1.3 million New Yorkers suffer from chronic kidney disease, many of whom may need a life-saving kidney transplant. But of the 7,321 people waiting in line for a transplant, only 1,199 of them (16 percent) are Hispanic.

Montefiore’s new clinic is trying to increase the number of Hispanics who sign up for transplants.

All of the clinic’s staff is fluent in Spanish and all literature is printed in Spanish.

De Boccardo, a native Argentine, begins each appointment by holding an individual “class” with each patient. The session details every aspect of abdominal transplant surgeries, most of which are kidney transplants, starting from the first kidney transplant in 1954 and ending with a question and answer session.

“We are a team. From now on, you can call me anytime,” De Boccardo told a patient recently. “I am going to become como su novia” (like your girlfriend).

The class is followed by a thorough evaluation of each patient as well as meetings with a financial coordinator and a social worker. By the end of their first visit, patients are on their way to receiving what De Boccardo calls “un segundo oportunidad que vivir bien” (a second chance at a good life).

In the last three months, 15 people have received “second chances” through the center. The clinic now sees up to 20 patients on an average Thursday, and its popularity is still growing, doctors say.

Ramona Uribe, who accompanied her mother Maria Uribe, 73, on a recent visit to the clinic, is anxious to spread the word about her experience with the center. Both mother and daughter said that they were “very happy,” with the attention they received from the staff and that the transplant process is moving “very quickly.”

People need to be “proactive” about transplants, Ramona said, noting that her mother made an appointment with the center after hearing about it from a friend. “I think I’m going to go back and tell everyone to do what my mother did,” she said. “It works.”

Still, some locals are not convinced about transplants, or the clinic, said Teresa Ramos, the transplant liaison for the clinic. “A transplant, yes, is scary, but with education we can ease their concerns and make them feel comfortable,” she said.

Ramos says a candidate for a transplant will currently wait five to seven years for a match, which means getting in line early is crucial.

As the staff seeks to educate the local community about transplants, De Boccardo says that the clinic is “a beginning.” De Boccardo and colleagues envision using videos and a post-transplant clinic to encourage healthy eating and regular exercise, the best ways to avoid abdominal diseases.

“We have to start at the end to go to the beginning,” De Boccardo said, as she explained that disease prevention would be the ideal aim of the clinic. “My dream would be that we teach the community how to prevent [abdominal disease]. We don’t want to be resuscitated. We want to have life.”