by Hayley McCullough
Daily Lobo
The new location for the Lobo Care Clinic is providing its patients with better medical care, said John Moya, a medical assistant at the clinic.
"We have nurse practitioners and physician's assistants, and we handle anything that needs taken care of at the time," he said. "People will just come over if they can't get in to see their primary-care doctor or if something comes up."
The Lobo Care Clinic opened in September 2005 on the second floor of the Student Health Center. The clinic has more space at its new location at the Medical Arts complex off Sigma Chi Road. The clinic moved in July.
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The clinic provides health care to UNM insurance holders who work at the University or the hospital, Moya said.
Moya said the clinic could not provide services in a timely manner at the old location because of minimal space.
The clinic moved to Medical Arts because there is better access for patients, said Robert Fitch, director of the clinic.
"We had two exam rooms, and now we have six," he said. "The service we can give has expanded in terms of time."
The clinic had to work around the Student Health Center's schedule in their old location, Fitch said.
The clinic had minimal hours because it had to work around the schedule of the Student Health Center, Fitch said. It wasn't open Wednesday or Thursday afternoons.
The clinic is now open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Fitch said some patients are pleased with the new location, but others miss the convenience of the Student Health Center.
"We still have incredibly high patient-satisfaction rate," he said. "Obviously, the people who could walk to the clinic would rather the clinic still be there, but I think they understand."
The Student Health Center has moved its massage therapy treatment from Mesa Vista Hall into the space the Lobo Care Clinic used to occupy.
Beverly Kloeppel, director of the student health center, said the extra space in the building benefits the massage therapists and their patients.
"People had a hard time finding where it is they were supposed to go," she said. "When they checked in, they had to go over to Mesa Vista Hall in order to have their massages."
Kloeppel said the Lobo Care Clinic is a great benefit for UNM employees.
"I certainly support it," she said. "We just didn't have enough space to offer them."
