Carilion Clinic has opened a second location for its general pediatrics clinic in the Old Southwest neighborhood of Roanoke at First Street and Albemarle Avenue.

The operation's original site on South Jefferson Street near Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital will remain open. The new facility doubles the work space for its staff and will also provide more pediatric-care options for Medicaid recipients and families without insurance.

The nonprofit clinic accepts patients regardless of their ability to pay, said Wanda Ostrander, Carilion's vice president for pediatrics.

The clinic has also hired a full-time Spanish interpreter to work in the two offices and a pediatric nurse practitioner who will be at the new building. It already employs six physicians and serves as a training ground for medical students and residents studying pediatrics.

"People were sort of jammed into a smaller space," Ostrander said of the original office. "Now they can decompress."

Many of the clinic's patients come from the neonatal intensive care unit at the Carilion Clinic Children's Hospital in Roanoke.

Renovations for the new office cost about $40,000, Ostrander said. With more rooms for patients, the clinic hopes to cut down the wait time for well-child checkups from a couple of months to one to two weeks, she said. It also plans to hire another full-time pediatrician, she added, and increase the hours of some of its doctors.

Each month, the pediatrics clinic sees 1,200 to 1,300 patients. About 75 percent of them are Medicaid recipients, company officials say.

Even so, the clinic's clientele continues to expand. Last month, it had 51 new patients, said Kimberly Robertson, practice manager for both offices.

At the same time, it's not the only practice to have to expand its pediatric care this year.

In the spring, New Horizons Healthcare, a federally subsidized community center at Valley View Mall, hired two part-time pediatricians and one nurse practitioner, said Executive Director Eileen Lepro. With the added employees, the center aims to increase its pediatric care to five days a week, Lepro said.

New Horizons offers low-cost services to patients who lack insurance or rely on Medicaid and the state-run Family Access to Medical Insurance Security program.

The clinic sees about 40 children a week, Lepro said. Just adding the nurse practitioner will allow for another full day of appointments, she added. That's about 15 to 20 appointments more a week.

About 11 percent of the center's patients are Spanish-speaking, Lepro said. Because of that, interpreters are in high demand, especially those who can translate medical terminology, she said.

Carilion's decision to hire a full-time interpreter, she said, is a good move: "We have been told by people in the community that if we had somebody on-board full time we'd attract a lot more people."

In the meantime, New Horizon plans to hire a Spanish-speaking nurse.