HEALTHCARE
Christus St. Vincent opens new Albuquerque primary care clinic
Location will also rotate Santa Fe specialists; more services to arrive in the fall
Albuquerque patients of Christus St. Vincent no longer have to drive to Santa Fe for primary care visits.
In June, the health system opened an Albuquerque clinic at 7910 Wyoming NE to 鈥渕ake it easier for individuals and families to access the care they need, close to home, from providers that they trust,鈥� said Chief Operating Officer Hope Wade.
Christus serves more than 300,000 New Mexico residents, with various facilities across seven counties. Wade said Christus opened the new clinic, the first in Albuquerque, after seeing an uptick in patients from the state鈥檚 largest city.
鈥淲e are continuing to have additional outreach in surrounding communities and for some of our specialties,鈥� Wade said. 鈥淲e know that healthcare across New Mexico is difficult. There is a shortage of providers, and so it鈥檚 part of our mission to be able to provide that care.鈥�
The new clinic also provides rotating specialty services such as neurosurgery, surgical breast oncology, hepatopancreatic biliary surgery and endocrinology, the health system said. It plans to add more services in the fall.
Healthcare specialists will be rotated through the clinic in Albuquerque, allowing patients to have appointments with the same ones they see in Santa Fe. More specifically, Wade said many patients who have cancer drive to Santa Fe for treatment, but they no longer have to make the drive, which she said 鈥渃an be difficult鈥� for such patients.
The new clinic comes as Christus has looked to expand its New Mexico offerings, announcing early last year it had purchased land with plans to build a multi-specialty facility in Los Alamos. Christus also opened its $80 million cancer center in Santa Fe last year.
The health system is part of the international Catholic nonprofit health system Christus Health, based in Irving, Texas.
The Albuquerque location aligns with Christus鈥� goal of providing high-quality healthcare for all of New Mexico, Wade said.
鈥淲e really are continually looking at where our patients are coming from and wanting to be positioned to serve those patients in the best way that we can,鈥� she said.
Keelin Fisher is a business reporter for the Journal. You can reach her at kfisher@abqjournal.com.
