There was a long time when Bayfield had no medical doctor. Now the town has a heart clinic, an outreach of San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington.

The clinic opened last month in the Bayfield Center Plaza. "We just saw that this area was under-served as far as cardiac services go," said San Juan Regional's public relations coordinator Laura Werbner. "A lot of the cardiac services we offer, the closest place before we came was the Front Range." They also have a clinic in Cortez.

Dr. Rachel Chaney staffs the Bayfield clinic. She grew up in Los Alamos and Albuquerque and did her medical training at the University of New Mexico. She received an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at UNM, then continued into medicine.

"We chose this location because we wanted to bring exceptional cardiac services to the area," she said. "This location is ideal for that. The mother ship is San Juan Regional Heart Center in Farmington. They're doing some really amazing things in the region," such as heart failure management and getting patients ready for bypass surgery that would happen in Albuquerque or Colorado Springs.

Chaney said the Bayfield clinic offers full cardiac consultations for coronary artery disease and arrythmia valvular heart disease, cardiac ultrasounds, stress testing, halter monitors for arrythmia management and evaluation of peripheral vascular disease, such as a blocked carotid artery, and pacemaker management.

"We're really excited to have this clinic here and to be able to provide this level of care," Chaney said. "The other thing, we will go into the schools (with presentations about) the top four things that prevent heart disease: eat your fruits and vegetables, maintain a healthy weight, don't smoke, exercise."

They have provided a whole day of free cardiac ultrasounds for high school athletes to spot conditions that could cause sudden death. They hope to do one of those in Durango in the spring, Chaney said. Heart Center staff "really involve themselves in the community with screenings and free stuff to keep people heart healthy," she said.

The Bayfield clinic can be reached at (970) 444-0260.

San Juan Regional will host the annual Affair of the Heart on Feb. 11 in Farmington with a fun run and 5k run and free screenings.