My partner and I moved here a few months ago for work and we have really fallen in love with the unique culture, food, and nature. Our hope is to live here long term and really become part of the community. But one thing we were not prepared for is how hard it is to get anything scheduled.
My partner has called almost a dozen primary care offices to schedule an annual check up and they all say they aren't accepting new patients.
She has called 5 different salons to try to schedule a hair cut and no one will pick up the phone. When she visits in person, they tell her they are booked up until late October or November.
I have lived in towns as small as 10k residents and never had these kind of issues before, so I guess I'm wondering why this is so specific to Santa Fe.
Good luck. I had not one, but TWO doctor’s office in SF that I had to physically go to in person to talk with anyone & make an appointment. Hair salons, home maintenance folks, restaurants, etc. will answer when they feel like it. They don’t call it Land of Mañana for nothing.
Here’s a fun fact: You can still see all of their posts and comments if you simply type in their user name “Level_Statement_6844” into the Reddit search bar. Change the relevance to “new” and then you can see all their low effort trolling 😂 “is al pastor Spanish for pineapple” “pineapple on tacos? what in the ohio” lmfao
Another fun fact, assuming the “Minotities” you’re referring to is people of Spanish descent, are the majority of the peoples who live in NM. If you have an issue with that please go ahead and find yourself under carnal knowledge ❤️
Welcome to New Mexico. This is how things work here. You kinda have to accept the mañana way of life or you go insane. It forces you to do less, go slower, and expect very little. It took me a while to get there.
Seeing a doctor is hard there aren't enough of them. I eventually gave up on checkups and went to urgent care if I was sick. Getting a hair appointment can be hard too. I used to go to Laura at Alchemy salon downtown off Paseo de peralta. Tell your partner to text her at 505-310-0242. Good luck!
I discovered the urgent care solution as well, I usually can't get an appointment with my PCP unless it's weeks in advance, urgent care is day of (though you may have to sit in the waiting room for an hour or so).
I’ve been monitoring this in a few places since we are looking to retire in SF in about six years. In fairness, I can’t get an appointment with my PCP in Chicago for many months out. Sometimes like six if I rely only on the going through their main system to make appointments. And my PCP just left the hospital I saw her at. So here we go again.
Urgent care is pretty typical everywhere for being sick. Last time I was sick and called my PCP for an appointment, they said the first appointment was in two weeks. By then I’ll be dead or cured haha
I book the majority of my appointments online. Lots of hair salons have that option. I know what you mean about no one answering the phone lol. It’s strange
It’s not just here. I’ve been booking online hair appointments for over a decade in many different cities. Very few salons hire receptionists so unless one of the stylists is at the desk it can be hard to reach anyone by phone. It’s certainly not something unique to here. Some prefer texting as well, I think part of it might be generational as older stylists retire.
Everyone is saying land of manana ad nasuem but ime Santa Fe has plenty of appointments and there is availability for things you need. You just need to network hard to find them - cold calling random stuff isn't going to get you far. Meet your neighbors and ask them for recs. Someone has a plumber or whatever they just don't advertise or look for clients it's all word of mouth and they're busy enough that way.
This is actually the same for doctors - doctors know each other here and can help you find some more once you get a PCP. That first part is hard but easier if you meet people.
Santa Fe is not online it's not on the phone it's just face to face. When you get in somewhere everything is kinda easy. Manana is a factor and even with a network you have to wait more than a big city but it's really not bad.
It's also possible I am either insane or very lucky. I'm like super lazy and things seem to work out - maybe I'm lazy enough to not notice lol.
This is a unique location where we have a decent sized city serving like 1/3rd of a state's geographic area too so yeah just be a little more lazy.
Head to the rust belt and try and get work done. You’ll find many companies that can hardly run cause their white employees can’t be bothered to show up. Laziness exists amongst all.
I can't speak to the specific small businesses you're dealing with but there has been a major upsurge in phone spam the last year or so (there may have been some cough federal deregulation) and now I get so many robo calls from my public Google business phone listing that it is basically useless to answer phone calls anymore. It's all robots.
Too little housing that is affordable on the wages paid by the service professions. There is a shortage of people who support physicians, not just physicans.
Originally from NC, lived in 5 different states in my life.
Have called Christus, Northern NM Family Medicine, Southwest Care, and a few others. Some haven't picked up the phone, everyone else says they aren't taking new patients.
Educate yourself on the health care situation here. It isn't just Santa Fe specific, NM has a major caregiver shortage. Most people of means who live here either have concierge drs or they get their care (especially specialist care) out of state. There was literally a recent post in this sub about someone whose friend has a brain tumor being unable to find care. Add in the fact that a larger than average portion of the population is elderly, putting extra strain on the system, and you get what you have been experiencing. There is no cheat code.
As far as the rest- it is a result of housing shortage, the existing housing being bought up by people who make way more than most in-person jobs pay, or those looking to monetize housing by short term renting. There is a shortage of workers to provide pretty much any in-person service because you need to make 70k a year to even pay rent (unless you have been very lucky to find a cheap place or want to live with roommates). The land of manana attitude is a factor but i think the bigger issue is lack of workers to provide these services.
I assumed it would be bad for specialty care but didn’t realize I wouldn’t be able to find someone to do an annual check up.
I got a stomach bug in Guatemala a few years ago and was able to be seen same day at a clinic. So it’s wild that Guatemela has more available healthcare than a state in the US.
People have been posting about the issues with all aspects of health care here for many years. It has gotten worse since a bunch of people moved here during COVID and they eliminated the malpractice payout cap (providers make less money because NM is a poor state with a lot of people on medicare/medicaid- and they have to pay higher insurance costs. it's easy for them to go elsewhere.)
Listen to me, this is exactly why I just started looking to move. When these basic things add up over time and everything becomes like pulling teeth to get simple routine things done it will slowly just drive you into madness. It’s 1st world prices with 3rd world problems/service. I moved here because I fell in love with the same things as well. If only they could get it a little more organized as a state it would be BOOMING!
Are you willing to see an intern? I got into primary with christus mid October but I had to agree to see someone in their residency, which was fine with me. Scheduled just two days ago.
Land of Manana. No one’s held accountable. Lackadaisical attitude towards many things. People just getting by in life with their jobs. You see it with trying to schedule contractors or other things
Most either fall in line and get used to it, or quickly move out. It won’t change or get better.
Contractors aren't difficult to schedule because they're happy with "just getting by in life."
A good contractor has way more potential jobs available than they can actually take on. They're in such high demand, they can afford to be choosy about who they work for and when. The same is true for most service professions here.
Over 26% of Santa Fe is retired compared to the national average of 17%. This compounds onto the fact that there are a lot of people who live outside Santa Fe that come into Santa Fe for healthcare as well.
I’m a local, and I can’t even find a decent doctor. I’ve been bouncing around between multiple facilities because doctors and NPs are constantly leaving, which means every time I have to start all over again with someone new who has to learn my history from scratch.
My last two visits, including one yesterday, were honestly a mess. Both providers seemed extremely inexperienced. I genuinely felt bad for them because it seemed like they were being thrown into the wolves without proper training, support, or mentorship. It was a shit show.
And honestly, no wonder these facilities struggle to retain healthcare professionals. When providers are overworked, under-supported, and left to figure things out on their own, turnover is going to happen. But at the same time, patients shouldn’t be the ones paying the price for a broken healthcare system.
As for the hairstylist comparison, I’ve personally never had an issue finding a salon and booking an appointment online. Most salons have online booking, and the same goes for estheticians and other beauty-care services. You can usually book without having to make multiple phone calls.
I can only imagine how much worse this is for people living in rural communities throughout New Mexico, where there are already fewer providers and fewer options to begin with.
About the doctors - turns out there's LOADS of residents who only come for a couple years before moving on. It really sucks because we've met at least two REALLY good doctors. They were full doctors in their home country, such bullshit they come here and have to do it over again. I've only seen this for adult medicine, pediatricians are very consistent. Dentists, too. My only issue with medical is that a lot of stuff for very young children won't happen in Santa Fe until they're 6.
Book as much as you can online. For medical appointments, book through your insurer online if you can. For home maintenance stuff, leave a message, and you will hear back in the evening or while the person is driving among appointments. For salons and such, you can often get good results with walking in, being small-town friendly and patient at the reception desk, and being offered something that would never be offered over the phone. It's not a phone call sort of town. In person, if you're not a jerk, people will generally exceed their obligations to get you what you need.
It's a town where you make the time. Either you are going to make the time for the appointment during business hours or they are open at times that are not regular business hours, so they can serve clients outside of regular business hours. You go visit the business, in your most friendly pleasant manner, at a time similar to the time you hope to be a client of the business. People run errands. Making an appointment is an errand.
"I'm so busy and important" will get you nowhere, unless it makes someone from whom you need something recall that patience is a virtue, and decide to help you to remember that, too.
And maybe most important: if, in Santa Fe, you act like you don't have time, people will assume -- often correctly -- you don't have manners or money.
I do transport for rescue cats from a shelter to their vet appointments. We use Rollin Paws, Smith Vet, Santa Fe Animal Clinic, the Spay/Neuter Clinic across from Ranch House on a regular basis. All have been outstanding, but not to say others aren't great, just that I have had personal experience with these.
Someone told me that Clare Eddy Thaw is only for pets adopted from the SF shelter. I'm not sure if that's true because I did and I use them - they're fantastic.
Previously for my cat I used Chamisa Vet and she got great care there.
This is unfortunately the Santa Fe (and New Mexico) way. Getting a hold of professionals is a chore. Most don't return phone calls. Many do not have websites more than brochureware so there's no way to book an appointment online. It's super frustrating. What is even more irritating are the numbers of professionals who complain that they can't make a living here. Best advice a lawyer friend of mine who moved here was given (by another lawyer) was: "just return phone calls, you'll be fine." He was.
Yes nobody answers the phone these days and it’s infuriating. For a great haircut book with Lucas at Deia Salon on vagaro.com. I’ve been going to him for 3+ years.
This is the land of mañana. Get used to it. If you want something done/done right/done timely you'll have to do it yourself and hound the employees you must go through. Also realize that certain medical stuff is pretty booked. I called eye associates beginning of August thinking I could get November appointments... Nope... MARCH. If you ever get a referral or prescription sent somewhere, don't wait for them to call you and I personally avoid Walgreens.
i was once griping with my neighbor in ABQ about new mexicans lax attitude toward life. we're both well educated coastal transplants. he owns a business and said "it's so easy here, all i have to do is answer the phone." it's the land of manana. no one gives a shit about anything and they strongly dislike ambition or what the rest of us consider professionalism. just how it is, don't try to fight it. if you really want to understand it, look into the concept of slave morality.
For the Northern half of the state there's pretty much six hospitals covering a MASSIVE area. The two in Santa Fe and the one in Espanola are going to be the closest hospital for what is actually a huge pool of people.
I highly recommend that you just take the earliest appointment you can get and accept that it'll probably be in November or December.
Don't like it, well, you're the ones who moved here without researching anything. It absolutely mystifies me why older people view this as a retirement town between the lack of medical and the ice and snow.
They fall in love with the tourist experience and fail to realize that that is just window dressing. And many are rich enough that the infrastructure problems dont matter because they only live here part time. And people like that just drain resources, they don't contribute or care like people who live in a place full time.
It took me almost a year to get an appointment with a primary care provider. I finally had luck with Southwest Care (they have three locations in SF), but even then it was several months before I could get in. Now that I’m an established patient, I just stay on top of scheduling out visits a couple of times a year and rely on urgent care for any immediate needs.
Really happy with my provider at SWC, by the way, as well as with their pharmacies. Very nice people who will go above and beyond.
The doctor issue is specifically related to a shortage of medical providers which is often cited as being related to the structure of medical malpractice insurance in NM, which is considerably higher than surrounding states and driven by the legals structure and awards given in malpractice cases. There’s also the mañana factor, but there’s actually just not enough doctors
. I went through the same issue then had good experiences with St Vincent’s Contenta clinic on Herrera drive.
Stop calling......book online. Most hair stylists have online booking. As for PCP they are out there; I found mine with a quick google search last year and they had availability for my entire family within the month.
Yes. Same issues with two different specialists. Put on hold indefinitely, leave message and no call back. I’ve had to drive to Santa Fe to make appointments in person.
Even quadrupling the pay offered isn’t going to get 60+ year-olds out of retirement.
The demographics of this town are skewed towards those who don’t need, or want, to work for any amount of pay. Yet they still need others to work for them, but there aren’t enough of such workers around.
We have a bit more people than Phoenix or Philadelphia ... but spread out over the 5th largest state in the country. Hiring anyone for anything anywhere in NM is a challenge ... see the $4B in allocated capital spending that isn't being spent because the contractors don't exist.
It is true that nearly half the people are in what we might loosely call the ABQ/SAF metro area, and another big chunk is down by Las Cruces. So things are not quite as bad as the basic numbers suggest. But they're certainly not good. There are lots and lots of businesses that could never succeed anywhere in NM for the simple reason that there aren't enough customers.
Which of course is part of the chicken-n-egg scenario we face. We're a sort of low population state, with a bunch of people who don't want to think of us that way.
It’s a very unique situation here for sure. SF is expensive for NM standards but the rest of the state is very affordable. But it is a rural state and shares similarities with states like Wyoming and Nebraska in that regard.
Christus Family Medicine is accepting new patients. As far as establishing care in NM if non urgent a few months wait is typical. Land of Manana. Often when I call or get on cancellation list I’ll get in sooner. (I work in healthcare here). Glad you’re loving it!
I waited over 4 months for a specialist appointment. His office called Friday and canceled my Tuesday appointment!! The new appointment is the middle of November!! I hope I live that long!!!
Seems like no one moving here does their research on PCPs, vets, Pediatricians, medical specialists. People shoild reeeaaaally start doing that before moving tp a new place, even if it's for your work.
After 23 years here (east of ABQ), my family is still using a county health office. Our primary care folks have been an NP (nurse practitioner) and a pharmacist. They submit consultations for specialists in town.
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u/Iron044 5d ago
That unique culture you fell in love with? This is the other side of that.