Address

1608 Isleta blvd SW
Albuquerque , NM 87105

Website

www.casadesaludnm.org

Description

We serve some of the most vulnerable people living in Bernalillo County, NM who
encounter the most barriers accessing health care. We provide comprehensive
culturally competent care to uninsured and under-served patients. The growing
population that we have always served consists largely of Hispanic and Mexican
heritage individuals from low-income backgrounds. Additionally we provide
addictions care services to patients experiencing opiate dependence. We do not
require insurance of anyone, charge a fair price that is well below market-rate
and do not send anyone to collections. Our average charge per visit is $40 with a
payment rate of 92%. Our clinic and providers offer charity care to patients most in
need that cannot afford the visit fee, averaging $30,000.00 annually.

In 2011 our clinic saw 13,153 clinical visits. This estimate is only for medical visits
and does not count our harm reduction services, medical debt management and
tattoo removal services which bring our total patient encounters to roughly 17,000.

The demand of patients to be seen by doctors is high. Often patients line up at the
crack of dawn to wait for the clinic doors to open so they can be seen in a walk-
in slot. CdS is one of the few places in New Mexico that serve the uninsured and
offer same day access for urgent medical needs. Of the population of New Mexicans
under the age of 65, 24.6% are uninsured (Census, 2010). That is a 62% increase
from the national average that is reported to be 15.4% by the Census Bureau.
Unfortunately, clinic often reaches capacity early in the day and must turn away
more than 8 patients per day.

Casa de Salud relies on the dedication of work-study and volunteer pre-medical
and pre-nursing students to help run the clinic. Our organization provides these
students with an opportunity to gain invaluable clinical experience with direct
patient interaction while allowing them to secure letters of recommendation from
the clinicians. Through the support of these work-study students and volunteers we
save over $120,000 annually. This savings is passed on directly to our patients who
receive below-market prices for visit and medical labs.

Category

Health & Disease