Southwest CARE Center Announces Opening of New Family Medicine Facililty in Santa Fe

Southwest CARE Center, a center of excellence in the treatment of HIV/AIDS for the past 17 years, has opened a new Family Medicine Primary Care clinic in Santa Fe to help fill the critical need for primary care in the community.

Santa Fe, NM (PRWEB) February 27, 2013

Southwest CARE Center, the Santa Fe-based health center that has been providing comprehensive medical care for people affected by HIV/AIDS and related conditions for almost 17 years, is announcing the opening of a primary care facility at 1691 Galisteo St., Suite D, in Santa Fe. Southwest CARE Center: Family Medicine will be overseen by Southwest CARE Center Chief Medical Officer, Trevor Hawkins, MD, and Associate Medical Director, Michael Palestine, MD. The facility staff includes Betsy Brown, MD, Jose Negron, MD, and Warren Goldberg, CFNP.

The center opened to fill the critical need for primary care in the community, and is available to receive patients from across lifespans and from all walks of life, including pediatrics and geriatrics. It is inclusive of anyone seeking a primary care physician and provides exceptional medical services for the whole family. In addition to providing primary care, the center will offer comprehensive sexual health services in a judgment free environment, travel medicine and free, anonymous, rapid HIV and Hepatitis C screening. Patients began being seen on January 30, 2013. To schedule an appointment, the public is welcome to call 505-954-1921.

“The single most common request from our patients that we have had over the years here at Southwest CARE Center is whether our patients' family members and partners can get care here,” said Dr. Trevor Hawkins, Southwest CARE Center's founder and medical director. “This increased our awareness of the need to provide primary care with the same level of excellence with which we have been treating our patients with HIV/AIDS for nearly 17 years,” he added.

In the U.S., less than one third of all of doctors practice primary care and the remainder are specialists. In a recent study of medical school graduates, only 7% were choosing primary care. What this means is that it is often challenging for people to receive preventative care and easier to be seen by a doctor once symptoms of an illness are present.

Michael Palestine, MD, has been a physician/investigator at Southwest CARE Center from 1999 until 2011, and in private practice in Santa Fe since 1999, with a focus on Infectious Disease and Travel Medicine. He was the Medical Director of the CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Wound Care & Hyperbaric Oxygen Center from 2006 to 2011. He attended Boston University as an undergraduate and Wayne State University School of Medicine. He performed a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Cincinnati.

Betsy Brown, MD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at UNM and has been a Physician and Investigator at Southwest CARE Center since 2007. Dr. Brown graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in 1990. She completed her residency in Family Medicine in Seattle at the Providence Family Medicine Residency, affiliated with the University of Washington, and developed an interest in HIV/AIDS at that time. She worked for the Indian Health Services as well as at the Country Doctor Community Health Center in Seattle, WA, for ten years, at which time she was also a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine for the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Jose Negron, MD, originally from rural Puerto Rico, joined Southwest Care after six years of working at a community health center in Milwaukee, where in addition to traditional family practice he provided care for transgender patients as well as managed treatment for HIV infection. His medical degree is from Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and he completed his residency in family medicine.

Warren Goldenberg, Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, is passionate about his current work providing specialty care to HIV and Hepatitis C positive patients, as well as assisting in clinical research for new medications for these populations. He is equally passionate about providing excellent primary care services to the Santa Fe community in his new role at Southwest CARE Center: Family Medicine. Warren has a Bachelor's Degree in Health Education from San Francisco State University, a degree in Nursing from the University of California San Francisco and a Master's Degree in Nursing from the University of St. Francis.

Southwest CARE Center, a model of excellence in the testing and treatment of HIV and Hepatitis C, provides comprehensive medical care, research, education, prevention and support services to people affected by HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and related conditions in New Mexico. Located in Santa Fe, NM, with satellite offices in Espanola and Taos, NM, Southwest CARE Center is funded in part by US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration - HIV/AIDS Bureau, and the New Mexico Department of Health. The staff at SCC is committed to providing the highest quality care. The Southwest CARE Center: Family Medicine, which opened on January 30, 2013, offers expanded access to essential health care in Santa Fe. It is our goal to serve members of our community from all age groups in an open, accepting, and judgment-free environment.

Media Contact:
Jennifer Padilla
JLH Media
jpadilla (at) jlhmedia (dot) com
505 577 1347

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/2/prweb10478679.htm