Hispanics in Northern New Mexico will be able to get health care advice and referrals at a Santa Fe grocery store, along with their carne and tortillas.

The Mexican government, in a bilingual and bicultural effort with The University of New Mexico Cancer Center and a nonprofit group, is sponsoring the Window of Health program at the El Paisano store on Airport Road.

Customers will be able to speak with health educators without an appointment from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first Monday and Tuesday of the month.

The coalition hopes to start a similar program in Española next year.

The program is modeled after Ventanilla de Salud at the Mexican Consulate in Albuquerque, where up to 100 people a day get health information from educators, said Maria Otero, director of Hispanic/Latino outreach programs for the cancer center.

"We're very proud to expand our services to Northern New Mexico with the goal of serving more members," she said.

"There's a lot of people that go to the Mexican Consulate (in Albuquerque) from all over the state, and this is one way we want to make sure it's easy for people to access health information in their community," she said.

Educators have information on cancer prevention, diabetes and cardiovascular disease and the H1N1 flu, among other things, Otero said.

"We want to make sure the community members become active participants in their own health care," she said.

The educators don't treat people on-site, but can refer customers to low-cost clinics.

The group chose the grocery store because it's a highly visible and popular part of the community.

"A lot of people are interested in health care but don't necessarily know where to access it," Otero said.

Gov. Bill Richardson and Mexico's first lady, Margarita Zavala, attended the opening of the health window Monday.

Richardson said in prepared remarks that since the program began nationwide in 2002, more than 500,000 people have received services and more than 10,000 people got help registering in government health programs. He said 25,000 people have been referred to free or low-cost clinics. Locally, 3,000 people have been served and five cases of cancer have been detected, the governor said.

"I believe most of those 3,000 people would not have gone to a doctor or hospital on their own, due to the high cost of health care," he said.

The program is run by the Mexican Consulate, which works with the state Department of Health.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.