Primary Care Medicine, Family Practice & Women’s Health
Dear Mountain Spirit Patients & Community,
After decades of caring for the Santa Fe community and years of dedication to our Patients, Lori Pearson Kramer CNM has decided to discontinue practicing in healthcare. She has referred her patients to both Lauren Zielinski CNM for Women's Health Specialty needs and Dr. Melissa Gibbons ND for Primary Care / Family Practice, plus Women’s Health Specialty. It has been an honor to work with such a dedicated professional as Lori, and we wish her well in her future endeavors.
With almost a decade years in practice as a licensed ND, Dr. Melissa Gibbons has a breadth and depth of experience which includes working with a diverse array of populations. She offers insights that include whole lifestyle and nutritional support in addition to the full range of standard modern Primary Care medical services. Dr. Melissa sees patients in person within both our Santa Fe and Albuquerque clinics beginning in January 2025.
As a Women's Health Specialist Lauren Zielinski, CNM focuses exclusively on Women's Health Services. Lauren is therefore referring all general Primary Care patient needs to Dr. Melissa as well.
We are excited to continue offering these essential medical services weekdays, in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, both in person and virtual telemedicine visits as needed.
Our Doctor licensed by the NM Medical Board, and our Nurse Practitioner are both skilled Providers with approximately a decade of clinical experience each. They welcome new and returning patients to our Downtown Santa Fe clinic.
Each Provider offers a wide array of services tailored to their patients, based on their training, experience, and licensed Scope of Practice.
Women’s Health Specialist + Certified Women's Integrative Medicine Institute Practitioner
Lori offers a wide array of medical services tailored to Women’s Health culled from decades of work in healthcare. Since joining Mountain Spirit in 2021, she has already earned a high rate of patient referrals, including many who chose to follow her from her last practice here in Santa Fe.
Click here anytime to schedule Primary Care visits with Lori, both in person and via TeleMed.
Lauren Zielinski, MSN, CNM
Women’s Health Specialist
As a seasoned Women's Health Provider with 14 years of dedicated experience, Lauren is deeply passionate about empowering individuals on their health journeys.
Coming soon…
Dr. Melissa Gibbons, ND
As most locals are aware, NM is a medically underserved state for many decades now. We empathize with the frustration of finding quality Practitioners.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, more than 700 Primary Care Providers left NM between 2017 and 2021 alone. Based on current provider census data, it is likely hundreds more have left in 2022 and beyond. According to their editorial, “New Mexico, ranked by health information website Medscape among the worst five states to practice medicine, was already below national provider-to-population benchmarks. The state is 334 primary care physicians below national provider-to-population benchmarks, which isn’t news to New Mexicans … Virtually every county is short of primary care physicians…” They went on to state, “The doctor shortages are likely only going to get worse with sharp increases in medical malpractice insurance kicking in ... Meanwhile, the average age of a physician in New Mexico is 53, suggesting further shortages are likely as doctors retire. And unfortunately, only 40% of residency graduates stay in New Mexico.”
The reasons given by many providers include:
* High cost for medical malpractice insurance
* High percentage of Medicaid / ‘Centennial Care’ covered patients (totals about 900,000 New Mexicans). That program tends to reimburse at or below Medicare allowable rates — which themselves have decreased 25% over the last 20 years when adjusted for inflation. The result it insufficient reimbursement rates, especially within relatively costly metropolitan areas such as Santa Fe and Albuquerque
* For decades, NM has required Providers to pay Gross Receipts Tax on every dollar that patients pay, including for copays, coinsurance and deductibles! Not wanting to pass that cost onto Patients, and everyday locals often not being informed that this amount is required to be paid to the state, costs Providers as much as 8% of their patient payments, often eviscerating already minimal profit margins. This issue was finally addressed with new legislation enacted in 2023. However, the damage has already been done, and it will likely take many years before this change affects PC Provider rates.
* Anecdotally, many providers also note that health insurance reimbursements in NM have not kept pace with the rapid cost increases of rents and maintenance for clinic spaces, labor/benefits, clinical supplies, and soft costs for maintaining a practice.
* Not only have many providers left, but those who stay also typically note that they have to see many more patients per day in order to stay in practice. All of these factors and more have contributed to the crisis we all face now.
Despite the lack of providers in this state, we remained vigilant to ensure whomever we choose for our Team are exceptional professionals dedicated to our Patient Community.
That’s why we’re especially grateful and delighted to announce skilled, compassionate, and dedicated Dr. Melissa Gibbons ND has officially join our Provider Team as of January, 2025.
CLICK HERE ANYTIME to schedule a Visit with Dr. Melissa Gibbons!
Bon Voyage…
At the end of 2021, Jessica made a major life change that was neither impulsive nor easy. Together with her growing family, Jessica moved over a thousand miles away to a new home that now works best for them.
What made this decision feasible was the wonderful Practitioners that remain here listed above, to whom Jessica has referred for your Primary Care and any non-urgent medical wellness needs. Click here anytime to schedule Primary Care visits, both in person and via TeleMed.
As her fellow Providers, Staff and Patients, we’ll remember Jessica’s years of work here fondly. Thank you & Bon Voyage Jessica!
Heidi Honegger Rogers, DNP, FNP-C, APHN-BC
Retired from Practice in 2020.
Now dedicated to teaching the next generation of holistic Nurse Practitioners, Heidi has referred her patients to our other Primary Care Providers listed above for your Primary Care and any non-urgent medical wellness needs. Click here anytime to schedule Primary Care visits, both in person and via TeleMed.
Thank you Heidi, for your years of dedication to our Patients!