May 12--SANTA FE -- Molina Healthcare Inc., a publicly traded health insurance company that has a state contract to provide Medicaid managed care, on Friday opened the first of what it projects will be four medical clinics around New Mexico.

They will serve its Medicaid health plan members, Medicare and Medicaid fee-forservice beneficiaries, and the uninsured.

The clinic, on St. Michael's near Llano in Santa Fe, has six examination rooms and one isolation room in a 4,500-squarefoot storefront. It will operate from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. It will be staffed by a nurse practitioner, a medical assistant, a receptionist and an administrator.

Molina, a Long Beach, Calif .- based company, plans to open a 16-examroom clinic in November on Central near Louisiana in Albuquerque. Gloria Calderon, Molina's vice president of clinic operations, said the company expects to open clinics in Belen and Las Cruces as well.

They will provide primary medical care, immunizations, preventive care and some laboratory services. The clinic can dispense drugs to its Medicaid health plan members. Other patients will be given prescriptions to fill at pharmacies.

Calderon said the cost of caring for patients who can't pay medical bills will be absorbed by the company.

Molina, which operates clinics in four other states, operates health plans for low-income families and individuals eligible for government-sponsored health programs in California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. Its plans have 1.8 million members.

Company CEO J. Mario Molina, who attended the clinic's opening, said the company operates clinics to provide low-income patients access to health services. "We're trying to build capacity and relieve some medical practices and emergency rooms," Molina said.

___

(c)2012 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.)

Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at www.abqjournal.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services