University Medical Center is planning to add outpatient medical clinics because, they said, they want to help people. Some doctors, however, said the clinics could hurt just as much as it could help the people of El Paso.

Dr. Andres Enriquez makes his usual rounds at his health clinic, Franklin Medical Center, in west El Paso.

"A solo practice like myself, I figure we're on our way out way out. You can go next door and get health care cheaper," Enriquez said.

University Medical Center is looking to build five new outpatient clinics on the west, east, central, and northeast parts of town.

"We are not intending to be in competition with the private sector. What we're intending to do by opening these facilities is to get access to 100,000 more of the uninsured in El Paso," UMC spokesperson Margaret Althoff-Olivas said.

KFOX 14 News spoke to several doctors from private clinics and urgent care who say they don't feel that way.

"If they go after the managed care contracts and the private sector, that's how I make my living. So yes, those clinics can be self-sufficient, by going after that sector, but that's going to put me out of business," Enriquez said.

UMC's outpatient centers will offer a one-stop-shop kind of clinic which will include a pharmacy, medical lab, physical rehab, and imaging services all in one place.

"We will have primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and nurses, Our goal is to routinely manage and follow up a patient's treatment so they don't end up in an emergency department," Althoff-Olivas said.

Enriquez is banking on patients to stay with him, because he says he can give what hospitals can't: a personal touch.

"When you come in, and I ask how your grandma is doing because she fell lastweek, that's something you're not going to get at a hospital. And you know what? You get what you pay for," Enriquez said.

County commissioners still have to approve more than $160 million in bonds to fund the expansion. Taxpayers will be footing that bill. The vote for those bonds is scheduled for next month.

If you have a story that you feel deserves media attention, please contact Geoff Tyler at Geoff.Tyler@kfoxtv.com