Supportive Clinic Services in the SLV

The mission of San Luis Valley Health (SLVH) is to be the premier fully integrated health care system that provides exceptional services for patients of the San Luis Valley (SLV). So what does this really mean? It means that they are committed to meeting the health care needs of the SLV. Being fully integrated means that they offer out-patient primary care as well as a robust level of specialty care services in addition to providing inpatient hospital services, lab, and imaging. In most cases, services that are needed in the community are added to the service offering, such as cardiology and cancer services. In other cases, SLVH collaborates with specialty partners to bring state of the art, professional healthcare services to patients in the SLV, detailed below:

The Vascular Center of Colorado supplements physical exams and supports patients with pacemakers. The pacemaker clinic is offered every other month in the Cardiology Clinic, third floor at the Regional Medical Center (RMC). For more information, contact the cardiology scheduling group at (719) 587-5764.

Pueblo Pulmonary Associates sends providers at least twice each month, who often see patients diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). They see clients in the orthopedic clinic at 2115 Stuart Avenue in Alamosa. To schedule with them, call (719) 564-1542.

Maternal Fetal Medicine assists pregnant women with complicated fertility or pregnancy issues. The providers are from the Southern Colorado Maternal Fetal Medicine group, part of the Centura Health network, and are usually in the SLV twice per month. A referral from your provider is required. Visits take place in the Women’s Health Clinic in the RMC in Alamosa.

About six times per year, providers with Pediatric Cardiology Associates, CU School of Medicine – Department of Pediatrics, visit with patients in the SLVH’s RMC’s Pediatric Clinic. To schedule with them, contact 719-305-9020.

Over 20 patients per month are seen by Pikes Peak Nephrology in the Hanger specialty clinic, located on the east side of the Stuart Avenue Clinic in Alamosa. The Nephrologists see patients at least three days per month. To schedule with these professionals, call 719-632-7641.

All of the specialty services mentioned above in this article schedule and bill separately from SLVH. They work in partnership with SLVH to provide convenient access and locations, to a broad range of services that help meet patients’ comprehensive needs.

SLVH has also added other regular services:

A recent addition to SLVH’s Pediatric Clinic is the change in hosting the Neurology and Rehab clinics brought to the SLV by the professionals from CU Specialty Outreach Clinics for Children School of Medicine, also formerly known as the Handicapped Children’s Program, or HCP. This was formerly hosted by the local public health agency, and now they are in partnership with SLVH Pediatrics. Call Teresa Hillis at 719-587-6392 for eligibility and to schedule an appointment. The patient appointments occur either in person or via telehealth on a monthly basis.

Hospitalized dialysis patients may now receive care at the Regional Medical Center in Alamosa via telehealth. This service allows for patients who previously had to leave the SLV for inpatient hospital care to remain in Alamosa, closer to home. SLVH providers consult with partnering nephrologists via telehealth. Dr. de Raet, Director of Hospitalists at SLVH, reports that the number of patients being able to stay at RMC have been averaging about four per month since adding this on November 1, 2018.

Visiting urologists are SLVH employees and have extended their service days from four to six per month. While urology services are offered on a part-time basis, they fill an important need, are thorough, and continue to expand their offerings. Procedures may include bladder scans, cystoscopies, kidney stones, prostate biopsies, and transurethral resection of the prostate (TURPS). Patients are scheduled by the staff at the Stuart Avenue Clinic, 589-8063.