El Rio Community Health Center operates out of this location and offers medical and dental services to Tucson’s underserved. Their funding comes from health insurers, the public and private donors.
Management treats temporary and per diem employees unfairly and is extremely strict with their policies.
Family Medicine
At East Golf Links near Kolb Road in southeast Tucson lies this 14,200-square-foot facility dedicated to serving the medical, dental, and behavioral health needs of uninsured and Medicaid populations in Pima County. Constructed and owned by MRW Inc, this LEED-certified “green” structure was the first ever in Tucson – built on former landfill land but designed and constructed according to stringent environmental and sustainability requirements.
Family Medicine services patients of all ages – newborns to seniors – with the primary goal of preventing disease and improving health. Care includes preventive and wellness services, family planning counseling services, and managing acute and chronic conditions. Family Medicine professionals also can refer patients to specialists or emergency departments when necessary.
There are 193 healthcare providers at this location, spread across four practice medical offices. Specialties at the clinic include Behavioral Neurology and psychiatry, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Endocrinology Geriatrics Geriatrics, and Family Nurse Practitioner.
El Rio is an essential training site for the Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s groundbreaking National Family Medicine Residency Program. Residents at this location practice in a patient-centric medical home featuring laboratory, pharmacy, and behavioral health care services; additionally, they take part in rotations at Cherrybelle, Congress, and El Pueblo Health Centers and Tucson Medical Center.
This clinic is a full-service community health center offering comprehensive primary medical care to the Tucson community. Services provided at this center include blood pressure monitoring, health/nutritional education, flu vaccinations, TB screening and counseling services, diabetes testing/care services, obstetric care assistance and medication assistance for pregnant women and other services for obstetric care as well as medication assistance for people experiencing homelessness through its mobile health van, The Van of Hope. In addition, semi-annual events like Veteran’s Stand Down and HOPEFest provide basic health screenings to this population of homeless individuals and shelters throughout Tucson.
Behavioral Health
El Rio Community Health Center is a non-profit dedicated to providing affordable healthcare. They offer comprehensive medical, dental, and behavioral health services for a large patient base in the Tucson area and have become recognized nationally as an example of excellent healthcare delivery.
El Rio’s mission is to improve lives in Tucson and Pima County through innovative, high-quality, compassionate healthcare that is easily accessible. El Rio believes all patients deserve high-quality, comprehensive, and affordable health care and offers services such as telemedicine, dental care, and social support to meet this need. They also provide behavioral health services to help individuals overcome mental illness or addiction.
El Rio’s Behavioral Health services include counseling and psychotherapy to treat anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders. Their team of therapists is adept at treating conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and panic disorder; additionally, they work with children and adolescents to help them cope with stress and trauma.
At their initial visit, all patients are assigned a Registered Nurse Care Coordinator to guide them through their healthcare experience and ensure that all scheduled follow-up appointments and referrals for needed resources have been designed accordingly. In addition, this RN can assist with health insurance options like Medicaid (AHCCCS) and the Affordable Care Act Marketplace (ACA Marketplace).
El Rio employees tend to be highly content with their jobs. The company provides exceptional benefits, an above-average salary, flexible work arrangements, and numerous career development opportunities. Furthermore, wellness programs help employees maintain good health.
Dental
Provides quality dental care at multiple locations around Tucson, AZ, to those without insurance coverage or adequate dental coverage at reduced fees, operating under an income-based sliding scale fee model. Preventative and restorative dental services for children (where appropriate) and adults, as well as education/counseling on oral health matters, are offered, as prescriptions for children’s medication/birth control needs are also provided at this clinic.
El Rio Community Health Center in Tucson partnered with Delta Dental to incorporate dental teams into pediatric well visits to educate parents on the correlation between good oral health and overall wellness. The embedded dental teams began this visit by engaging with children and their families in the pediatric waiting room by providing screenings and varnish treatments while they waited. Later, during their medical appointment, they identified needs that needed further treatment by following them throughout.
Employees in safety-sensitive positions are expected to comply with masking and PPE policies when interacting with patients, coworkers, visitors/vendors, and visitors/vendors. El Rio is a no-smoking organization; employees may be subject to random drug testing as per El Rio’s Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) drug-free workplace policy.
Employees are expected to have reliable transportation that can meet any operational reassignments of the organization during their workday and participate in ongoing educational or organizational-sponsored events/committees that contribute to personal growth while relating to job duties.
Pharmacy
El Rio’s mission of providing access to affordable medication is at the core of its operations. It takes great pride in its seven pharmacies, which fill over 600,000 prescriptions annually. Their pharmacy team includes Advanced Practice Pharmacists who collaborate closely with physicians to manage patients’ medication through drug therapy management agreements by educating patients, suggesting regimen changes, and monitoring the side effects of drugs prescribed to them.
El Rio serves a large percentage of low-income patients. El Rio relies on the 340B program, which allows safety net health care providers with slim margins to purchase specific drugs at discounted prices for patient access purposes. This ensures patients can access the medication and programs that may assist them.
El Rio’s pharmacists use their expertise to address social determinants of health. When one patient needed a new ventilator but could not afford it due to a lack of insurance and resources, El Rio used its 340B savings account to buy it for her, eliminating a barrier to equitable healthcare access.
Pharmacy employees take great care in providing outstanding customer service, from welcoming visitors to filling orders both in person and online. That is why El Rio recently upgraded to RxMedic RM64 pharmacy robots, which can process up to five prescriptions per minute, some of the fastest on the market and essential in meeting El Rio’s growing need for quick, accurate prescription fulfillment.
Nutritional Counseling
Nutritional counseling is an invaluable service that benefits individuals of all ages and backgrounds. If you want to change your diet to reduce calories or incorporate more nutritious food sources into daily life, nutritional counselors are there to support and assist. They’re nonjudgmental professionals trained to assess dietary habits that fit with lifestyle. Furthermore, they can even tailor weight loss goals specifically tailored for you.
Nutritional counselors can also be invaluable for individuals battling chemical dependencies or eating disorders, helping them identify healthier ways of eating while teaching them how to track their food intake – this allows them to make necessary changes that will benefit their health and improve the overall quality of their lives.
A nutritional counselor will conduct a comprehensive WIC nutrition assessment, including but not limited to reviewing their medical history and current diet. A nutritionist will then suggest nutrient consumption and meal preparation, considering cultural background, education level, religious/spiritual beliefs, and socioeconomic status.
Nutritional Counselors will perform program support duties as necessary and attend team meetings, clinic staff meetings, and training workshops as required. In addition, Nutritional Counselors must abide by all facility and program policies and procedures related to HIPAA/Compliance compliance.
Nutritional Counselor will work under general supervision and provide direct clinical nutrition services to women, infants, and children registered for WIC Special Supplemental Food Program for Women Infants and Children (SSP WIC). They provide nutritional assessments and counseling focusing on infant and child feeding practices.
