More care close to home – CHRISTUS St. Vincent

With the help of Mayo Clinic, a 5-year-old's health is back on track

Member: CHRISTUS St. Vincent, Santa Fe, New Mexico

A day in the life of an average 5-year-old probably includes a kindergarten morning meeting, strawberry fruit snacks at lunch and an episode of "Puppy Dog Pals" after school. What's not included? Urinary tract infections. But for 5-year-old Miana Ortiz, those infections were part of her daily life. For more than two years, her primary care providers at CHRISTUS St. Vincent struggled to find the root cause of her discomfort and provide her some relief.

Determined to find a permanent solution for the young Santa Fe resident, provider Crystal Romeo, a pediatric nurse practitioner at CHRISTUS St. Vincent Arroyo Chamiso Pediatrics, sent Ortiz to a specialist at Mayo Clinic. This process was streamlined because CHRISTUS St. Vincent is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.

A Mayo Clinic pediatric nephrologist reviewed Ortiz's medical history and suggested a possible cause for her symptoms: a rare kidney disease called IgA nephropathy (Berger's disease).

Miana's mother, Liz Ortiz, was relieved. "As a parent, it was comforting for my child to receive the specialty care she needed while remaining in the care of her CHRISTUS St. Vincent primary care provider who knows her best."

With this new medical diagnosis, Ortiz could go back to doing what 5-year-olds do best: starting the day right with a kindergarten morning meeting and eating strawberry fruit snacks at lunch.

"The care network is like having an expert for our experts," says Arturo Delgado, director of CHRISTUS St. Vincent Marketing, Communications and Public Relations. "Mayo Clinic providers and specialists draw on their immense level of experience and knowledge. Mayo is like this mountain of information. These experts are just a phone call or email away, which gives our providers a boost of confidence."

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