• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

County Lends Support to Women's Health Clinic

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 October 2005, 18:01 CDT

By Diana Heil, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Oct. 12--Each year, about half of the 6,000 patients at Women's Health Services Family Care & Counseling Center are poor. But unlike La Familia Medical Center, the clinic does not receive special federal funding to offset indigent care.

Another big difference: Women's Health Services pays $120,000 a year to lease space in the Solana Center on West Alameda Street.

As a result, the 32-year-old program struggles to stay afloat financially, said Patricia Sanchez, director of operations for the clinic. In early 2004, the office scaled back services.

It lost a couple of doctors, she said, and shrank from 15 examination rooms to 10.

Another shortfall is expected this fiscal year. "I'm writing grants like crazy," Sanchez said Tuesday.

But in a vote of support Tuesday, Santa Fe County commissioners vowed to continue to help Women's Health Services secure a permanent location with less of a financial burden. This year the county sought $3 million from the New Mexico Legislature, but received $635,000 -- not enough to buy the 20,000-square-foot Solana Center building, which has multiple tenants.

Sanchez hopes the county can squeeze more money out of legislators during the winter session, then buy part or all of the building.

Women's Health Services would like to get free rent in exchange for providing health care to the poor -- an arrangement Sanchez said is similar to that of La Familia. That way, the clinic could pump the savings into its $2 million operational budget and see more patients each year, she said.

The county's action echoes a resolution the city passed last year. And Sanchez said the support means a lot. "The ideal would be this space because we could stay put," she said.

Women's Health Services, located in the space once held by Lovelace urgent care and others, has undergone a cosmetic face-lift, and the clinic purchased new medical equipment last year, she said. It's conveniently located on the bus line.

Though Women's Health Services has operated with fewer than three full-time doctors since 2004, the clinic plans to hire two family-practice doctors in the months ahead, Sanchez noted.

-----

To see more of The Santa Fe New Mexican, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://ww.santafenewmexican.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Santa Fe New Mexican

More News in this Category