Bosque Clinic aims to be one-stop shop for overall wellness

RIO RANCHO — If you were to walk in at The Bosque Clinic last week, you would have been met with a doctor's office under construction. However, that doesn't mean they aren't taking patients as construction is nearly complete.

"We're so close. We're at the last stages before we actually open to the public," office manager Aimee Cooper said.

Her hope is to open Jan. 27 so the clinic's first and current provider, Family Nurse Practitioner Robert Martinez FNP-BC, can start helping the community.

"We're really just going to kind of dive into primary care. Because we were delayed by a while, it actually gave us a really great opportunity to dive into virtual care and peptides. That's our biggest patient base right now. I would say 90% of our patients are on peptides, which are a new and remarkable kind of upcoming way to be well," Cooper said.

Though the clinic doors are closed, patient care has already started with the digital platform, and a lot of it came about because of the clinic's repeatedly postponed opening.

"A lot of our patients have responded really well to a lot of the weight-loss solutions that we've been offering. Also a lot of muscle building stuff, a lot of hair, skin and nails, and we really didn't foresee doing any of that. When we started talking about it, it was more primary care, X-ray, urgent care services and ketamine. We were on the wellness spectrum because ketamine was always something that was going to be included — and IV — but peptides just kind of came from being delayed, which was remarkable. So we're really excited about that," Cooper said.

The weight-loss program, according to Martinez, will look at the patient as a whole rather than limiting people's options.

While the clinic does offer the treatments that have become popular for weight loss, it isn't always the first thing they will suggest. Martinez said he was more than willing to talk about nutrition in detail, helping patients establish a plan of action and determining whether the treatments are the right option for them.

"The other thing is everyone wants a quick fix, and we can't always provide that," he said. He added that patients need to be prepared to put in the work for their wellness.

Cooper said that the goal of all three owners is to keep the view on overall wellness "rather than traditional patient care where you come in when you're sick and that's the only time you see your provider. We want to take care of you and make you well and take care of you when you're sick as well," she said.

One of the main ways they hope to accomplish this is by accepting most insurances as well as cash payments from people who may not have insurance. Cooper said the clinic will offer flexible payment plans and payment options, too.

"Our clinic is designed right now to accommodate about 2 1/2 providers. So the capacity of the clinic, we anticipate we'll be able to see almost 50 patients a day. We're open seven days a week. Right now when we're starting, I'm the only provider as we hit that milestone to hire someone else. Then we'll hire another provider. Then we'll keep doing that," Martinez said.

To keep it a "one-stop shop," as Martinez said, the clinic will offer primary care, family and children's care, women's care with a fully equipped OB/GYN, and urgent care needs can be addressed. It won't be on the same scale as a fully staffed emergency room or urgent care, but if someone broke an arm, Martinez would be able to check it out with the clinic's X-ray machine.

"We have a full X-ray. We have the capabilities of preparing sutures, incisions, doing a lot of minor procedures," he said.

Part of the clinic's plan is to expand and open another location in Enchanted Hills. "Northern Rio Rancho is underserved in the medical field," Cooper said.

Martinez and Cooper will also be working to get students working toward their medical degree into the clinic to get hands-on experience. Martinez, who has worked in larger hospitals, knows how hard it can be to make time for those learners in the hustle and bustle.

"This program really allows us to serve the community for employment and build that. That program can last anywhere from six months to a year and help people continue to step up and grow in our clinic, which is great," he said.

One resource they hope to provide to companies and schools are physical checkups.

It will also be an environment where everyone in the office is cross-trained on everything the clinic offers. This would include everyone from the doctors to the person at the front desk. Martinez also hopes this can help the patient say if they need a specific kind of doctor.

"I know women often prefer to be with a female provider," he said. The OB/GYN position will be filled soon, he said, but that is an area he wants to have a female doctor. Cooper said women's health will be available as soon as they open, though.

Cooper and Martinez have been working to establish open lines of communication with surrounding hospitals and clinics as well.

"We also would really like to have other health care clinics that are similar to ours offer our service. If they have a patient with a broken bone, we would love to see them and send them right back or, you know, us refer our patients to them. Because Rio Rancho is growing so fast, we want to be able to send someone up the street rather than into Albuquerque and just really be focused in our community," Cooper said.

Martinez said as the mainstream medicine world changes, the clinic is moving along with it.

"I think the approach to health care is changing in a national level. I think people are going to be more aware, and you see all this stuff in politics about changing restrictions on the food we eat, changing the amount of preservatives we allow. I think, as a nation, our focus is changing to not being so reactive but proactive to our health," he said.

Martinez wants Rio Rancho and the surrounding communities to feel like they have a resource available to them.

"That's our main goal is to optimize health, and at the same time, we have a place where we can treat disease, where we can treat emergencies. What we offer is very unique, and the fact that we're willing to spend the money on X-rays and all the resources so that people can come and hopefully get most of their needs met in one spot, which is exactly what it was, just a completely comprehensive personalized approach to your health and wellness and care," Martinez added.

The Bosque Clinic is on Jackie Road just behind Castle Coffee and Smith's. For more information, visit thebosqueclinic.com.