Karen Lovett's clinic in Edgewood was given to the nursing college and reopened this month under the management of nurse practitioners.

Staffed by three nurse practitioners — nurses with a high degree of training — the clinic offers specialists in pediatrics, birthing mothers' health and geriatrics.

Patti Hearson, one of the nurses and a resident of Sandia Park, said it will mean more access to care for residents.

"Most clinics in Edgewood have been pretty full," she said. "There's just a need for more providers out there."

The college hopes to keep costs low, in part, by using the clinic to educate student nurses.

"It's pretty exciting for the college to be donated an educational-run clinic," Hearson said.

X-ray machines, an EKG and some other items are on the clinic's wish list, she said. She hopes to the college's foundation can manage to get those items through donations, she said.

If it is successful, the nurse practitioner clinic in Edgewood may pave the way for clinics throughout the state, according to Dr. Nancy Ridenour, dean of the Nursing College.

"A lot of it depends on funding," she said. "It takes a significant amount of money to get started, but we really feel that Edgewood is a very good population for nurse practitioners to work with."

She added that this would be a good site for students to learn about serving rural areas, and students who work in Edgewood will be more likely to look into jobs in rural areas.

"They can see how it is a rewarding place to practice," she said.

One of the challenges to getting clinics started in other parts of the state is the cost of leasing facilities, she said, so the facility in Edgewood may not have been possible without the donated building. The college just doesn't have those kinds of funds, Ridenour said.

"We're really wanting to develop a practice that meets the needs of the population," she said. "It's not going to make any of us wealthy by any stretch of the imagination."

The clinic is on the north side of Old Route 66, east of N.M. 344 near NAPA. Most forms of major medical insurance are accepted. The clinic will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. most weekdays, and stays open until 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. The clinic is closed on the weekend.