The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo has upgraded its health clinic to a larger, 78,000-square-foot space, adding a pharmacy, new medical equipment and more testing capacity in its laboratory .

The new two-story building, designed by Carl Daniel Architects in El Paso, sits down the street from the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Cultural Center at 9473 Socorro Road. The clinic provides free health services to the local Tigua community and all members enrolled in one of the federally recognized tribes.

The new clinic had a soft opening in May 2023 to begin transitioning patients and employees from the old, 13,000-square-foot facility, which now remains unused half a mile away.

Martin Lopez Jr., director of Health and Human Services at Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, described the clinic as a “one-stop-shop” to address health disparities in the Native American population, such as high rates of diabetes and drug overdose. 

Health services include primary care, dentistry, optometry and an expanded public health division that offers personal training, diabetes education and cooking classes in a new kitchen.

The building also houses programs for social services, mental health and alcohol and substance abuse. Programs include child and adult psychiatry and therapy, marriage and family counseling, rehabilitation and drum therapy for substance abuse recovery. The social services team connects Pueblo members to tribal foster homes and hospice care for elders.

“The need had always been there, but we just didn’t have the capacity,” Lopez. said. “But now we definitely have the capacity to provide the services requested by the community.”

Expanding services for a growing Tribe

Lopez said the project came from discussions that began in 2012 about whether the health clinic could meet the demands of the Tigua community’s projected growth.

The Tribe had nearly 1,720 members in 2012. The Tribe now has 5,320 members, with just under half of those members living in the El Paso area, according to data provided by the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo.

In 2016, the Tribe entered a joint venture agreement with Indian Health Service, a federal agency. The Tribe agreed to use its own funds to design and construct the new health care facility while Indian Health Service funds staff, operations and maintenance.

The Tribe declined to provide an exact cost for the multimillion dollar project.

Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and respiratory infection were among the top reasons for health clinic visits in the last decade.

The old clinic saw an average of 1,500 patients a year. The new clinic has more than triple the number of medical exam rooms, plus new rooms for specialized procedures.

The addition of a CEREC machine, which creates dental crowns, allows patients to complete their dental restoration in one appointment instead of waiting weeks, said general dentist Ankita Vishwamitra.

Having multiple areas of health care under the same room also makes it easier to refer patients for other needs, she said. If a patient discusses domestic problems during their appointment, she can refer them to social services, or when a patient has high blood sugar, she can refer them to primary care, Vishwamitra said.

Symptoms of diabetes can even show up in people’s eyes, another benefit to having primary care and optometry in the same clinic, said optometrist Dr. Syndy Maynard. She looks for signs such as blurry vision and swelling of the eye lens, and can walk down the hallway if she wants to discuss a patient’s medical records with their primary care physician.

Should a patient need medication, they can pick up their prescription on site. All medications are available at no cost to tribal members and the pharmacy can also deliver prescriptions to members’ homes.

Starting in the spring, students from the University of Texas at El Paso’s School of Pharmacy can begin their six-week rotations at the clinic’s pharmacy and learn how Indian Health Service works, said pharmacy manager Reasol Chino.

The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo is also working with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso so psychiatry and dentistry students can complete their rotations at the Tigua health clinic.

The Tribe is still in the process of hiring people, including a pediatrician, to ramp up capacity, Lopez said. As of early January, the clinic has two family board-certified physicians, two dentists, one optometrist, two pharmacists, one psychiatrist and three registered nurses.

In three to five years, the Pueblo plans to open its health clinic to the greater El Paso community, Lopez said. 

Addressing the household

Employing more physicians and health care workers helps provide patients with continuity, said public health division director Miriam Cardenas. In the past, the clinic had fewer employees and patients often saw short-term contract providers.

Diabetes is the most prevalent health condition in the Tigua community, Cardenas said. The public health division focuses on nutrition and physical activity, which addresses multiple chronic health conditions, not just diabetes, Cardenas said.

The health clinic has a weight and cardio room for one-on-one training, as well as a kitchen for cooking classes. It’s important for the community to be involved in designing these public health programs so people’s cultural foods and traditions can be incorporated, Cardenas said.

“When we meet with a person to do an assessment, we look to see what type of education is needed. What are their barriers? What are their needs?” Cardenas said. “But in that process, it’s not just the individual that gets diagnosed. Our services address the household because we want not only that person to make changes.”