Primary Care Medicine, Family Practice & Women’s Health
Dr. Melissa Gibbons, ND
Primary Care Medicine + Family Practice
Dr. Melissa Gibbons practices within our Santa Fe and Albuquerque clinics. Licensed in NM and AZ, Melissa’s experience includes almost a decade of work in the medical field. She cares for people ages 3 and over including annual exams & sick visits, managing acute & chronic diseases, and promoting wellness across the lifespan. Dr. Melissa is an in-network Provider with Presbyterian, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, and Cigna. She even welcomes Centennial / Turquoise Care (NM Medicaid) for patients insured via BCBS and Presbyterian. Naturopathic Doctors are Licensed by the NM Medical Board as Primary Care Physicians. Like New Mexico licensed MDs, NDs manage and prescribe medications (with the exception of controlled substances), while providing integrative therapy options that support a patient’s innate health and wellbeing.
Click here anytime to schedule Primary Care visits with Dr. Melissa, 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.
Modern BioMedicine, Women’s Health, and Primary Care Medicine CoPays
We are proud to be an independent Multi-Specialty group integrative medicine practice, practicing with a focus on the Patient-Provider relationship. With this in mind, we want to clarify certain insurance and billing matters related to your care. Annual wellness visits include a check of your height, weight, bloodwork and vital signs. You and your Practitioner will discuss any changes to your health, and will work together to create a personal health plan for the year ahead. Please note, Insurance Companies determine when and whether CoPays are due for Primary Care visits. Because of this fact, we collect a CoPay at the time of each Primary Care or Women’s Health Visit, and submit all of the facts regarding each Visit to your Health Plan via Medical Claims. If your Plan determines that no CoPay was due for the visit, we’re happy to refund such amounts as soon as the relevant Explanation of Benefits is received showing zero Patient Share for a Primary Care visit. Otherwise, when the EOB shows a CoPay is due as part of the Patient Share, the CoPay is retained for such Dates of Service.
CoPays for Visits with our Women’s Health Specialist
Because of Lauren Zielinski’s background as a Women’s Health Specialist and being a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), the insurance companies with which we are contracted, deem all visits with her as Specialist medical care.
Our Front Desk will collect your Specialist CoPay for each and every visit, whenever you see Lauren Zielinski, CNM.
When calling your insurance to obtain a quote of benefits, prior to scheduling with Lauren, be sure to specify the provider is a Certified Nurse Midwife, often referred to as a CNM.
She offers only Women’s Health Services here, and does not provide any pregnancy-related care here at Mountain Spirit. Patients confirmed with pregnancy are referred to an OB/GYN and/or actively practicing Midwifery / Birthing Center for their pregnancy-related care, if they do not already have one established.
CoPays for Visits with our Naturopathic Doctor
Dr. Melissa Gibbons is Licensed by the NM Medical Board as a Naturopathic Doctor (ND). Though our NM State Law defines ND’s as Primary Care Providers, the insurance companies with which we are contracted typically deem their care as Specialist in nature. Specialists are not necessarily paid or allowed any more by Health Plans than PCPs. However, most plans require Specialist CoPay amounts for ND visits. Therefore, each Plan’s Specialist CoPay is collected at the time of each visit with our ND. If a subsequent EOB shows a different amount is due, we’re happy to adjust the Account then.
Dear Mountain Spirit Patients,
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 our Providers, 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 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 licensed by the NM Board of Nursing, are both skilled Providers with approximately a decade of clinical experience each. They welcome new and returning patients to our Downtown Santa Fe clinic. Dr. Gibbons also sees patients at our Nob Hill, Albuquerque clinic.
Each Provider offers a wide array of services tailored to their patients, based on their training, experience, and licensed Scope of Practice.
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 and Lauren Zielinski, CNM are essential members of our Provider Team.
CLICK HERE ANYTIME to schedule a Visit with Dr. Melissa or Lauren!
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!