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EVANS - In the newly remodeled and revitalized former headquarters of State Farm Insurance Co. in Evans, moms and kids with little or no health insurance wait to see a doctor in brightly lit, comfortable surroundings.
Receptionists fluent in English and Spanish greet patients at three color-coded treatment pods, where medical care will flow through an easy-to-understand passageway of financialinformation intake, exam rooms, accounting and pharmacy if needed.
Mitzi Moran, president and CEO of Sunrise Community Health Center, beams as she leads a tour of the SunriseMonfort Family Clinic, a 60,000-square-foot facility that has replaced the very overcrowded Sunrise clinic at 1028 Fifth Ave. near downtown Greeley.
"Lots of people have done lots of things to make this happen," Moran said. "When this building's finished, we'll be able to serve 300 patients a day."
So far, only 40,000 square feet of the Sunrise-Monfort clinic is being used, with another 20,000 in reserve for expansion. Funded with $6 million from a partnership that included $2 million each from Banner Health, NCMC Inc. and the Monfort Family Foundation, the clinic will ultimately have 41 exam rooms and 18 clinicians, providing a full complement of family health services.
Moran said the clinic's main clientele is the uninsured and underinsured. "Sixty to 70 percent of our patients don't have any health insurance, public or private," she said. On the other hand, Moran noted, most patients...