The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession along the Rio Grande

Nuevo Día is a heroin addiction clinic in the Española Valley surrounded by neglect and abandoned homes. Garcia emphasizes the importance of history, sharing that the clinic was formerly a state-run residence called Juniper Hills. Like Nuevo Día, Juniper Hills was underfunded and understaffed. One of the patients at Juniper Hills set the building on fire, forcing the clinic to close. Locals used the abandoned building to use heroin, taking advantage of the empty beds and deserted medical supplies.

Nuevo Día opened as a detox facility for individuals with heroin addiction and is unique in the region for its focus on mental health. Garcia works there from six in the evening to seven in the morning. During her first shift, Garcia notes in the daily log that every bed is occupied and that she is the only worker on the premises. For three hours, she deflects patients’ cries for medicine and anything else that might ease their suffering. When it is finally time for medication, Garcia administers the doses, and the patients go back to their beds. One patient named Peter does not seem relieved after receiving his medication.

As Garcia helps Peter take a bath with Epsom salts, the electricity in the clinic goes out.