A brand new Colorado clinic opened Tuesday, but patients won't find any doctors inside. It is a practice run entirely by nurses.
Rosa Urbina was the first patient at the practice that promises a new kind of health care.
“We have five patients scheduled today, which I’m really excited about,” said Adrienne Wolf with CU Healthcare Partners at Belleview Point.
Urbina knows she'll never see a doctor, because CU Healthcare Partners chose to staff only nurse practitioners.
“[Nurses] have that very innate, caring ability,” said Wolf.
CU Anschutz College of Nursing opened the clinic, at 5001 S. Parker Road, to fill a growing need. Colorado is seeing a shortage in primary care providers.
“From a very practical standpoint, nurse practitioners in the state of Colorado can treat, prescribe and diagnose without the oversight of a medical doctor,” she said.
“Patients seem to like it because it gives them a little more personal touch. They're also a bit more motivated because they are paying a monthly fee,” said Kristen Petrelli, a family nurse practitioner.
The monthly fee keeps you covered for routine flu shots, blood work, annual exams and vaccines. Payments range from about $60 to $80 a month for adults, $20 for kids.
“We're going back to the roots of primary care. We're going to be doing things like stitches. Hopefully, we'll have an X-ray machine and set broken bones and do all those things that primary care providers used to do,” said Wolf.
The clinic will also take most forms of insurance. It is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. If all goes well, CU hopes to open similar clinics throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
