Bernalillo County shuts down program providing health care at these four APS schools - Noah Alcala Bach, Albuquerque Journal
Bernalillo County has terminated its contract with Health Yeah!, a mobile clinic that has offered health care services to students at four Albuquerque Public Schools middle schools since last fall, at the cost of $1.5 million annually.
“Bernalillo County terminated its contract with Wellness Equity Alliance after thoughtful consideration and due diligence on behalf of the county,” Bernalillo County Manager Cindy Chavez said at Tuesday’s commission meeting. “We are currently discussing a transition process, and the county looks forward to continuing to work with our partners, in particular APS, to explore new and innovative ways to continue to deliver health care services to our school-aged children.”
She did not offer further explanation as to why the contract was terminated. The Wellness Equity Alliance is a California-based company that aims to provide health care to marginalized communities. Their initiative in partnership with Bernalillo County was sending the Health Yeah! Clinics to schools.
The Wellness Equity Alliance did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The mobile clinics serve McKinley, Roosevelt, Truman and Tony Hillerman middle schools.
“The county’s decision doesn’t impact the 14 brick-and-mortar school-based health centers currently operating in our schools,” APS spokesperson Martin Salazar said in a statement. “That said, we are definitely open to partnering with the county to find a new provider.”
Brandon Smith, who heads Health Yeah!, said he could not comment Wednesday.
However, in an op-ed he wrote for the Journal published Sunday, Smith said the county’s decision amounted to “reckless abandonment of the most vulnerable among us.”
“That is why Bernalillo County’s sudden decision to pull the plug on Health Yeah! is so alarming. No warning. No reason given. Just a notice that in less than 30 days, the work we have been doing for kids and families is supposed to end,” he wrote.
Smith also pleaded with readers to show up, speak out against the move and “pack the room.” Three of the five total public commenters — one of whom was Smith — at Tuesday’s meeting spoke on the issue.
“It’s my hope that this type of program can continue, even if there’s a different provider organization,” Dr. Dale Alverson, a senior pediatrician for Health Yeah!, said at Tuesday’s meeting. “We are all committed to a smooth, appropriate and effective transition, ensuring continuity of care for these students and their families.”
Eric Olivas, who chairs the county commission, also hopes to implement a similar program.
“The county remains committed to serving students and families in need across the community through perhaps a similar type of program,” he said in an interview Tuesday night. “The (county) manager has committed to engaging with APS and relevant partners to really determine sort of what that service looks like.”
He added that the agreement between the county and the Wellness Equity Alliance allows either side to terminate the contract without cause.
“We’re not placing any blame or finding any explicit wrongdoing or anything like that,” Olivas said. “It’s just a part of the contract that says, the county or the vendor can give 30 days’ notice and just say we’re parting ways.”
Haaland urges higher wages for medical residents, wading in on UNM-union dispute - Danielle Prokopp, Source New Mexico
Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland this week sent a letter to the governing board of New Mexico’s flagship university urging it to increase salaries for incoming resident doctors and preserve anti-discrimination language in ongoing union negotiations.
The University of New Mexico’s contract with the resident physicians union, called the Committee of Interns and Residents, expired on Aug. 31. While the contract remains in effect during negotiations, the union and university are still negotiating the levels of pay for residents at the state’s sole academic medical center.
“At a time when our state is grappling with the second-worst physician shortage in the nation, with a third of our physicians expected to retire by 2030, failure to invest in resident physicians now is a decision with long-term consequences,” Haaland wrote in the Sept. 23 letter to the UNM Board of Regents.
Physician shortages are projected to impact states across the U.S. in the next few years, but New Mexico is ranked to have the second-highest rate per capita, according to 2020 data published by the National Institutes of Health.
Resident physicians are doctors who have graduated medical school and are now in training to specialize in their fields of choice—often for relatively low pay and long hours.
Rupali Gautam, a third-year resident training in pediatrics and the regional vice president of the UNM resident physician union chapter, says enacting competitive salaries and benefits for new doctors will help address the state’s shrinking pool of physicians. According to a 2024 Think New Mexico study, the state has seen a 30% decline in primary doctors in recent years.
“With the growing physician shortage in New Mexico, the best way to recruit residents is to provide those incentives for them to apply here,” Gautam said.
In her letter, Haaland contended that UNM has the lowest-paid residency salaries in the Southwest Region, with a starting stipend of $65,550 for a first-year student. The American Association of Medical Colleges data from 2024 shows mean stipends for first-year residents at western schools (New Mexico Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) was just over $75,000.
The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center disputed that New Mexico’s pay for residents is one of the lowest in the region. Chris Ramirez, the director of communications for UNM Health Sciences Center, supplied data from other universities, in Utah, Arizona and Texas. Ramirez noted that the third-year resident’s salary, which he called “more representative,” is on par with the national median of 10 other area universities and the national median from the American Association of Medical Colleges.
Ramirez said UNM Hospitals appreciated Haaland’s letter.
“We are always happy to keep our community leaders informed on the issues affecting the University and its constituents, while also making sure we are compliant with all applicable laws governing confidentiality and collective bargaining,” Ramirez said in a statement.
The University has also proposed removing specific anti-discrimination language in the contract’s non-discrimination clause, Gautam said, pointing to recent efforts by the federal government to ban “diversity, equity and inclusion,” at universities.
“I think that’s because of the Trump administration pushback that a lot of institutions are getting from a federal level if they are using the words diversity and inclusion,” Gautam said.
Ramirez said he could not speak to UNM’s position on contract negotiations.
“It is unlawful for either party to publicly discuss any terms of the proposals made by either party before it is ratified by the parties,” he wrote in response to Source NM’s inquiry. “However, UNM and UNM Hospital are committed to ensuring compliance with state and federal anti-discrimination laws.”
Haaland said removing the language jeopardizes “a safe, inclusive and equitable environment,” for not only new doctors but also their patients.
“UNM’s mission in providing care is rooted in serving Native American, Hispanic, and other underserved people of Bernalillo County. That mission depends on fostering a workforce that reflects the people it serves and can provide care that is not only clinically sound but culturally competent,” she wrote.
In a statement, Haaland said New Mexico is “uniquely vulnerable to Trump’s attacks on our healthcare,” noting concerns about rising health insurance premiums.
“If we’re serious about lowering costs and expanding access, we have to make smart moves like paying our medical residents. It keeps doctors local to the area at a time when we cannot afford to fall farther behind,” she said.
A voicemail for Board of Regents Chair Paul Blanchard had not been returned as of Wednesday afternoon.. An emailed request for comment to Ben Cloutier, the head of communications and marketing at UNM, to whom Ramirez referred board questions, also remained pending.
Gautam said she was grateful for Haaland’s letter lending attention to the negotiations and said the union wants to reach a resolution with the university to address the physician shortage.
“Patients traveling to other states to get their care are going months, even up to past a year,to get specialty care within different fields,” she said. “I’m a pediatrics resident and a lot of our pediatric specialists are seeing patients months to years out from their initial referral — that’s not great.”
A centuries-old map is returned to Mexico after it was recovered in Santa Fe - Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
A map drafted centuries ago as Spanish settlers solidified their presence in what is now Mexico and the southwestern United States has been returned to the Mexican government, marking the end of a yearslong effort to bring the historic document home.
FBI agents and Mexican officials were joined by historians and archivists Tuesday at the consulate in Albuquerque for a celebratory handoff of the map. FBI Special Agent in Charge Justin Garris said it was more than simply ink on paper and Mexican officials described it as a significant part of their history and cultural heritage.
"This document not only enriches our collective memory but also strengthens the ties that unite Mexico and New Mexico through a shared history," said Patricia Pinzón, Consul of Mexico in Albuquerque.
She mentioned the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro as one of those links. The 1,600-mile (2,560 kilometer) route once served as a lifeline between Mexico City and Santa Fe and is depicted as a central feature that snakes through the map. The names of communities are artfully scripted along the route as other lines radiating from the route mark rivers.
The names of Native American communities are tucked into the dots and darkened scallops that represent the valleys, mesas and mountains that span what is now central New Mexico, Taos and areas near the Colorado border.
Unlike maps of today, this one is orientated with north to the right and west at the top.
The map is one of thousands of archaeological and cultural items reclaimed by Mexico in recent years, Pinzón said. Just last month, a nearly 500-year-old priceless manuscript page signed by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés was returned.
DISSAPEARANCE AND DISCOVERY
Archivists in Mexico City first realized the map was gone in 2011. It was among 75 pieces that were taken from records belonging to the national archives. The physical evidence included a scar inside one volume where pages had been removed.
About five years passed with no leads.
Then came a call from a librarian at the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, who was doing background research on a map that was presented to the library for sale. The librarian found evidence that the document may have been stolen, said Billy Garrett, executive director of the museum.
Mexican archivists used negatives and microfilm copies to prove that the document in Santa Fe was genuine.
It took years to work through international protocols and laws that relate to returning material stolen from other countries, but during that time Garrett said the library took great care to protect the map in a climate-controlled environment. It's scribed on paper made of rag pulp.
The FBI held the map over the past year while final arrangements were made for Tuesday's handoff.
"We're very glad that it's gone back to its rightful owners, and we were glad we got to take care of it for a while," Garrett said.
Federal investigators say it's not surprising that the map turned up in Santa Fe, given that the city is a major hub for dealers and collectors who are fascinated with Native American and Spanish colonial art. While they didn't divulge any details about their investigation, they say no charges will be filed.
PIECE OF A BIGGER PUZZLE
Manuel García y Griego, a history professor at the University of New Mexico, recalled photographing a computer image of the map about a decade ago while conducting research at the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico City. When he first stumbled upon it, he knew it was important.
Joseph Sánchez, who founded the Spanish Colonial Research Center at UNM, had photographed a copy of the map decades earlier for his own research.
"We both found it interesting that independently we had seen this map in Mexico and considered it so important, and now we discover that it has been recovered in Santa Fe," García y Griego said before the ceremony.
During the event, Sánchez shared several old maps that included areas far beyond the borders of present-day New Mexico, saying there's more to the state's history than the recovered map shows. Still, he said the map being returned to Mexico "is something quite, quite unique and it shows a different type of settlement pattern."
IMMERSED IN HISTORY
Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber crouched down for a better look at the map. While appreciating the fine details, he said everyone in his city is a history buff. After all, Santa Fe — founded in 1610 as the seat of Spain's Nuevo Mexico — is the oldest capital in the United States.
"We live history. It's not something in the past. It's part of our daily lives," Webber said, adding that the map helps to illustrate what he described as a very old story built upon many generations and many families.
For Webber, the map also documents a sense of place that is overwhelming and still present today.
"There are lots of places that are suffering from sameness and Santa Fe and New Mexico are not places that suffer from sameness," he said. "They are unique and special and this map bears testimony to it already having been a remarkable place."