House Republicans say they’ve become ‘unlikely allies’ with NM Gov ahead of her final session
—Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A New Mexico House Republican leader said at a news conference at the beginning of the 30-day legislative session that Republicans have become “unlikely allies” with Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on issues like crime and health care as she heads into her final year in office.
State Rep. Rebecca Dow (R-Truth or Consequences) reflected at a Roundhouse news conference Tuesday on how the relationship between House Republicans and the governor has changed since Lujan Grisham took office in 2019. She said the GOP and Lujan Grisham have found themselves aligning more lately due to what she described as a progressive shift in the majority Democratic Legislature.
“The governor’s door is open, and especially for Republicans, around the issues that the progressive majority refused to move on,” Dow said. “And that has been around reforms with crime and the health care crisis that we’re facing in New Mexico.”
In addition to passing a budget during the 30-day session, Lujan Grisham is expected to put other items on the agenda for lawmakers that Republicans said Tuesday they’ve spent years advocating for, including juvenile criminal justice reform and health care changes.
“We’ve become unlikely allies,” Dow said. “And I think it’s an indication of how misaligned this legislative body is with the people they’re supposed to represent.”
Dow’s comments came ahead of Lujan Grisham’s final State of the State address as governor on the opening day of a packed legislative session. The governor is urging the Legislature to change the state’s criminal code regarding juvenile offenders, as well as address a state doctor shortage through interstate medical compacts and medical malpractice reforms.
When it comes to criminal justice reform, the governor relied on Republicans to introduce a host of bills legislation during a special legislative session in July 2024 that ended in just five hours after Democrats in the majority refused to take up the bills. The governor has continued calling on Democrats to do more regarding criminal justice since then, including at the end of the legislative session last year.
The governor also agreed to put medical reforms on the agenda for the session, which House Republicans said Tuesday was a result of pressure from them and the public at large. Senate Democrats, who previously stymied efforts to enter the medical compacts, announced recently that they expect to enter two such compacts for doctors and social workers this session.
However, House Democrats and House Republicans are urging the Legislature to enter more of them this session. Rep. Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena) said at the news conference that she expects the governor to join the House in pressuring the Senate to pass more compacts than just the two.
“So the pressure’s there. New Mexico wants these compacts. Is the legislature willing to do it?” she said. “We in the House of Representatives — Republicans — we’re ready to do it.”
In final State of the State, NM Gov pitches collaboration (and universal child care)
—Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
In her final State of the State address, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham laid out an ambitious blueprint for lawmakers over the next month, with priorities ranging from her relatively new universal child care platform to longstanding public safety objectives.
She opened, however, with a video that showed her at a table in Tia Sophia’s with several of her predecessors: Republican Governors Gov. Susana Martinez, Gary Johnson and Garrey E. Carruthers (former Democratic Gov. Toney Anaya appears via phone call, as well).
The restaurant, she said, is where she’d meet the late Sen. John Arthur Smith, who died in 2024, to hash out budget items, and where many elected officials meet to talk about the future of New Mexico and its capital city.
The governor, who has not always gotten along with members of her own Democratic party, let alone Republicans, used her final speech to underscore a message of finding common ground, a theme she has spoken of more frequently in the past year, including at a public event in Utah last fall with Republican Gov. Spencer Cox.
“Let’s teach America, because I think they need to learn again, that bipartisanship is not something to give up or to leave behind,” she said during her address. “It’s the New Mexico model.”
Lujan Grisham also used the speech to make her pitch for universal child care, and to underscore her accomplishments over the last seven years.
“What we’ve built over the last seven years isn’t just a list of accomplishments,” she said. “It’s a blueprint. The story of the past seven years starts with the children who represent the future of our state.”
Paying for universal child careLujan Grisham first unveiled the state’s plan for universal child care last September. While questions have emerged since then about capacity, perhaps the greatest hurdle lies in the Legislature, where lawmakers appear reluctant to pay for the governor’s plan, which calls for a $160 million spending increase.
“I’m asking for a $160 million recurring increase for universal childcare to cement our legacy as a state of generational opportunity instead of a state with generational poverty,” she said in her address.
However, when lawmakers in early January presented their budget proposal, they only called for increasing the Early Childhood Education and Care Department’s spending by $13.7 million. Legislative Finance Committee analysts at the time wrote that universal free childcare will “create additional demand for childcare assistance without the necessary revenues to implement this policy decision should more people apply and qualify for subsidies.”
In Tuesday’s speech, Lujan Grisham said 10,000 additional kids are enrolled in child care because of the changes the state has made, and highlighted one specific family: Kenny and Crystal Martinez, a firefighter paramedic and emergency room nurse, respectively.
“They’ve had to rely on alternating overtime shifts to make ends meet,” the governor said, and had two children who didn’t qualify for assistance because their combined income was too high. “That meant one parent staying home while the other one was at work. That meant, as I said, 12-hour shifts at work followed by long stretches caring for the baby alone. It was lonely, it was stressful — and it’s just too damn hard.”
The governor also gave a shout-out to the other side of the equation: the child care providers, spotlighting Angela Garcia, who runs a child care center in Las Cruces.
“With the enhanced rate in universal childcare, which you all did, she‘s given everyone on her staff a raise — helping great caregivers to keep doing what they love,” Lujan Grisham said. “And now, she’s expanding her childcare centers. She’s serving an additional 80 infants and toddlers to meet the new demand for care.”
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during her State of the State address on Jan. 20, 2026, that she did not consider her final regular session “a victory lap.” (Kate Russell for Source New Mexico)
Education
Education in New Mexico is “not where it needs to be,” Lujan Grisham said in Tuesday’s address. However, she touted meaningful ground the state has gained in recent years.
In 2024, for example, nearly 80% of high school students across the state graduated on time, the highest such rate in 15 years, she said. She said she hopes to hit the national benchmark of 87% this year.
The governor also included funding and legislation to boost literacy and math rates as part of her agenda, as well as a cell phone ban.
“Our approach isn’t about troubleshooting around the edges,” she said. “It’s about rebuilding our education system from top to bottom so fewer kids fall behind, more stay engaged and more gain the skills they need.”
Last year, Lujan Grisham signed into law Senate Bill 11, which required local school districts and charter schools to adopt a wireless communication device policy. She called the policy a good “first step,” but also said she was “profoundly disappointed” lawmakers chose to amend the bill to make compliance optional for local districts.
She also called on lawmakers to permanently establish the Office of Special Education, which she established within the Public Education Department in 2023 by executive order, “so families don’t have to fight the system.”
Economic developmentThe governor included $150 million in tax credits “to solidify New Mexico’s position as a national leader in investment for future-forward technologies like quantum and fusion energy.”
Lujan Grisham last fall announced a $120 million dollar partnership with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, called the Quantum Frontier Initiative, saying she wanted New Mexico to be known as the “home of quantum computing.”
This year, the company Quantinuum opened a research and development facility in New Mexico. It joins other private sector and government quantum startup efforts in the state, including the state-funded Roadrunner Quantum Venture Studio and the federally funded Quantum Tech Hub. In September, Pacific Fusion, a California-based fusion energy company, announced plans to build a $1 billion research and manufacturing campus in Albuquerque.
The state Economic Development Department in early December released a 158-page report that calls for further growth in science and technology fields including quantum systems, advanced energy and aerospace.
“When these students graduate from college or earn their certificates from trade or technical schools, we’ve got the strongest economy in history waiting for them,” Lujan Grisham said Tuesday. “Over the last seven years, we’ve added 150,000 jobs, including in rural communities.”
A December Legislative Finance Committee report found that, unlike much of the nation, New Mexico’s economy is not in or near a recession, despite President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” having an outsized effect on New Mexico’s traditional revenue sources, including corporate income taxes.
She touted how the national firm Moody’s Ratings earlier in January upgraded New Mexico’s bond rating to one of the highest national rankings.
“The people who measure risk for a living see our state as one of the smartest bets in the country,” she said. “It means lower borrowing costs — so we can build roads, schools and housing while saving taxpayers money. It means more investor activity, bringing funding and jobs to our state. It means that after years of being underestimated, New Mexico hasn’t just arrived — ladies and gentlemen, we’re leading the way.”
InfrastructureThe recent economic growth means the state’s infrastructure needs upgrading, Lujan Grisham said.
She also called for an interest-rate buydown program to make owning a home more attainable in New Mexico.
Lujan Grisham specified in her speech money for roads and housing, specifically:
- a $1.5 billion transportation bonding package to fund major state-managed road projects and free up funds for local improvements.
- $110 million for new housing units and homelessness initiatives.
- zoning reform to expedite and increase housing production.
ClimateLujan Grisham painted New Mexico as a national leader in renewable energy. In 2019, she signed into law the Energy Transition Act, which set benchmarks for New Mexico utilities to transition to 100% renewable energy sources.
In December, the New Mexico Environment Department unveiled a Climate Action Plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The crowd gave Lujan Grisham the loudest applause of her remarks when she called on lawmakers to codify the plan into state law.
Legislation to codify the governor’s Climate Action Plan to cut pollution 45% by 2030 and meet net-zero emissions goals by 2050 will once again be heard at the Legislature. Last year, the Clear Horizons Act, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), failed to advance beyond Senate Finance. This year’s legislation had not been introduced as of publication, but Stewart has described it as “shorter and leaner.”
Lujan Grisham also said she wants to see a commission to “leverage and utilize private and public investments, grow our economy and protect consumers and businesses, while meeting exploding energy demands with more clean power.”
Public SafetyPublic safety has emerged as an area of frustration for the governor over her two terms. She called a special session in 2024 to focus on public safety, but her agenda was thwarted by Democratic lawmakers. She then embarked on a statewide tour to gin up support for her public safety agenda. Last year, she excoriated lawmakers at the end of the session for not adequately addressing juvenile crime in the aftermath of a March 21 mass shooting in Las Cruces.
Sen. Bill Sharer (R-Farmington), the Senate minority leader, speaks at a response to the State of the State on Jan. 20, 2026, with fellow Republican senators behind him. (Patrick Lohmann/Source NM) Since then, legislative Republicans also have held town halls focused on public safety, including juvenile justice. Republican lawmakers on Tuesday cast themselves as “unlikely allies” with Lujan Grisham on public safety matters. During their own public safety town halls across New Mexico, several elected Republicans made reference to that unlikely alliance in their requests to include public safety matters on this year’s legislative agenda. Democrats, likewise, announced plans to tighten regulations on firearm dealers.
Lujan Grisham on Tuesday referenced her own frustration over the lack of progress with her public safety priorities. In the last seven years, she said she has pushed for more engagement on public safety and “more backbone.”
“If anyone tells you we’ve done enough to rein in violent crime, ask them if they would say that to a family made smaller by violence,” she said. “Would they say it to the parents trying to protect their kids? Would they say it to the children who have lost someone they love because we refused to keep dangerous criminals behind bars? I don’t think they would.”
During her State of the State, Lujan Grisham specified legislation geared at:
- juvenile justice reform to address severe teen crimes.
- assault weapons ban and gun dealer accountability to fight gun violence
- strengthening penalties on felons in possession of firearms.
- stricter pre-trial detention measures for suspects charged with violent crimes.
Senate Republicans, in a news conference immediately following the governor’s speech, said they felt vindicated by the governor’s emphasis on public safety, though Sen. Bill Sharer (R-Farmington), the minority floor leader, sharply criticized her proposals for an assault weapons ban and more accountability for sellers.
He also credited the state oil and gas industry for the accomplishments the governor touted in her speech.
“The governor took credit for a lot of stuff today, and granted, a lot of stuff happened, some of it even good,” Sharer said. “But it was because we had a thriving oil and gas industry.”
Sen. Bill Sharer (R-Farmington), the Senate minority leader, speaks at a response to the State of the State on Jan. 20, 2026, with fellow Republican senators behind him. (Patrick Lohmann/Source NM)
Health care
Health care also has emerged as an area of overlap between the governor and legislative Republicans.
“We’re seeing this fight play out at the national level — arguments over who deserves care, and what kind of care you deserve,” she said Tuesday. “Here’s my take: Healthcare shouldn’t depend on who you are, where you live, or how much money you make. It’s not a luxury. It should be a fundamental right in America.”
Lujan Grisham backs legislation that will address:
- medical malpractice reform to lower the cost of care and keep health care professionals in New Mexico.
- health care licensing compacts to ease staffing shortages, build a workforce pipeline and improve access for patients.
- eliminating the gross receipts tax on medical services to keep care affordable.
- building the University of New Mexico’s medical school to double enrollment and educate the next generation of health care workers.
In closing her speech, the governor returned to the theme of bipartisan agreement, asking lawmakers to “talk to each other” and spend time together at a list of local restaurants within walking distance of the Roundhouse, including Tia Sophia’s, Tomasita’s, The Pantry, The Shed, La Choza, Market Steer, Palace Prime, Pink Adobe and Plaza Cafe. “Communicate. Listen. Disagree. And keep trying.”
She also specified she did not consider her final regular session “a victory lap.”
“We’re not slowing down. We’re just going to push forward,” she said. “Let’s double down and do it all.”
Governor expands public safety emergency order in northern New Mexico - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
At the request of local and tribal leaders, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has gradually expanded an emergency order focused on reducing violent crime and drug trafficking in northern New Mexico.
The governor's senior public safety adviser Benjamin Baker said Monday the multi-jurisdictional effort — it now involves six separate tribal governments and two counties — has led to a 40% decrease in outstanding felony warrants in Rio Arriba County in a roughly 90-day period.
He attributed that to better collaboration among law enforcement agencies, along with a more visible presence in certain drug trafficking corridors.
"Our preliminary assessments after the first 90 days of this unprecedented collaboration show incredible promise for a safer community and region," Baker said in a statement.
As part of the emergency order, roughly 50 New Mexico National Guard members have been deployed in Española, Santa Clara Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh to assist local law enforcement officers. The guard members do not carry firearms and have not been tasked with making arrests.
National Guard troops have not been assigned to work in Santa Fe County and on the Jicarilla Apache Nation, which were both added to the governor's initial emergency order. But law enforcement officials in those jurisdictions have been taking part in weekly briefings and planning efforts, according to the Governor's Office.
Española City Councilor Sam LeDoux said Monday the National Guard deployment has freed up the city's police department do more criminal investigations.
He also said the initiative has reduced panhandling in Española, and also made local residents feel safer.
"I know that a lot of people are more comfortable at night," LeDoux told the Journal.
However, he also acknowledged concern about whether the city and other nearby jurisdictions will be able to sustain the momentum once the National Guard deployment ends. The Governor's Office did not immediately say Monday how long the order might remain in place.
"Part of the issue with the Española Police Department is it's not the size it needs to be and hasn't been for a long time," said LeDoux, who said the city currently only has about 27 active police officers.
The governor has now issued five executive orders focused on crime and public safety in northern New Mexico since her initial order declaring a state of emergency in Rio Arriba County in August 2025.
Each of those orders authorizes up to $750,000 in state funds for the multi-jurisdictional effort, which can be used to help pay for overtime costs, drug-testing technology and other expenses. The most recent order was issued this month.
While the initial order did not include Santa Fe County, the county was added after Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza sent a letter to the governor requesting assistance dealing with a "sharp rise" in violent crime and drug-related crimes, particularly related to fentanyl.
Española, which has about 10,000 residents, straddles Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties.
Despite a recent decrease, New Mexico's violent crime rate was still nearly twice as high as the national average in 2024, according to a recent legislative report.
In addition, while nearly half of all reported crimes that year occurred in the Albuquerque metro area, Gallup, Taos and Belen all had higher per capita crime rates than New Mexico's largest city.
The report also found that better data sharing could improve the efficiency of the state's criminal justice system, which has struggled with chronically low clearance rates for felony cases.
Before issuing the public safety emergency order for Rio Arriba County and its surrounding areas, Lujan Grisham issued a similar order for Albuquerque.
But a six-month deployment of the New Mexico National Guard — at a cost of roughly $7 million — to Albuquerque ended with the governor's administration criticizing city leaders for not showing more initiative to maximize the assistance the city received.
While the Albuquerque Police Department said the deployment — dubbed Operation Zia Shield — led to decreases in property crimes and robberies in the Central Avenue corridor, APD Chief Harold Medina acknowledged the corridor's appearance had not significantly changed.
Ruidoso Downs moves entire horse racing schedule to Albuquerque due to flood concern - Sean Reider, Albuquerque Journal
Ruidoso Downs Racetrack will not host horse racing this summer after a government-contracted report found the track is not a sustainable public venue "now or for many years to come” due to flood concerns, the business announced in a release Monday.
A report from JE Fuller, a civil engineering firm based in Arizona and New Mexico, revealed that moderate rainfall could overwhelm existing and planned drainage improvements, creating dangerous conditions at the popular quarter horse track.
The flooding is a result of wildfires degrading forests in the surrounding mountains, leaving less natural defense against rainfall that accumulates quickly and rushes into streambeds.
Upon learning of the findings from the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management-commissioned report and following up with government agencies last week, track leadership made the “challenging and emotional” decision to move its 49-day race schedule, usually starting in late spring, to the Downs at Albuquerque, citing the safety of track patrons, workers and horses.
“It has now become clear that, even with proposed flood mitigation work done on-site and off-site upstream, Ruidoso Downs Race Track cannot be adequately protected from future flooding,” the release stated. “ … Continued operations at the current site of Ruidoso Downs Racetrack is not feasible.”
The Downs at Albuquerque previously hosted Ruidoso Downs’ signature Labor Day race, the All-American Futurity, in 2024 and 2025. Known as the richest quarter horse race in the world, the $3 million futurity was relocated both years after flash floods engulfed the track and destroyed key race equipment following the South Fork and Salt Fires in 2024.
The track won't shut down completely. The 2026 New Mexico Bred Sale and the 2026 Super Select Sale will still be held at the Ruidoso Downs sales pavilion. The track’s casino will also remain open.
Despite challenges to reopening horse racing, Ruidoso Downs staff and local officials are eyeing a return next summer.
“The Village of Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs Race Track management, Lincoln County, state officials and community stakeholders are unified in our commitment to bringing championship quarter horse racing back to Ruidoso for the 2027 season,” Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford stated in a news release Monday. “We are already coordinating recovery efforts, identifying funding sources, and developing an aggressive timeline to ensure that every necessary repair is completed well ahead of Memorial Day 2027.”
A message to Crawford’s office from the Journal was not returned. Ruidoso Downs general manager Rick Baugh also did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
The JE Fuller report, dated Aug. 5, 2025, details modeling of three proposed offsite basins and other drainage upgrades at Ruidoso Downs. The basins were “not expected to provide meaningful and lasting” flood protection, while the other proposed additions would not eliminate flood risk to the track or surrounding areas.
The planned improvements, the report stated, would likely have limited long-term value due to “very high” construction costs and anticipated maintenance needs.
“(The basins’) effectiveness depends on a highly specific combination of rainfall intensity, duration and post-fire ground conditions,” the report said. “Even if those conditions are met, the basins do not provide meaningful mitigation during larger storm events, as their storage capacity is quickly exceeded.”
When asked about a potential return for horse racing at Ruidoso Downs next summer, New Mexico Racing Commission Executive Director Ismael “Izzy” Trejo said “the crystal ball is never clear” when trying to predict weather conditions — particularly New Mexico’s monsoon season.
“It’s good to have the goals,” he said. “And we hope that they can be maintained. But obviously, we’re not short of the reality of this happening every year from here on out.”
Trejo added he was pleased Albuquerque Downs is able to host Ruidoso Downs’ race schedule in light of the southern track’s “somewhat devastating" decision to not host this summer.
“Not racing in Ruidoso and not having any racetrack step in to run some of these races, it would have been a complete devastation for the horse racing industry here,” he said. “On the one hand, we’re disappointed that we couldn’t get it up and going in Ruidoso, but we understand that’s reality.
“ … On the flip side, the commission’s very focused on keeping this industry going. Not running in New Mexico at all for the duration of the summer would have been even more devastating than just not running at Ruidoso, so we’re glad that the Downs at Albuquerque has the ability to handle and support the industry in the way that they’re going to this summer.”
Don Cooks, Albuquerque Downs’ president of racing, did not respond to a request for comment from the Journal.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham blocks CYFD from housing New Mexico kids in offices - Santa Fe New Mexican
The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department will no longer be allowed to keep children overnight in its county offices.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order Monday.
The order will take effect March 1st. It addresses a long-standing problem for New Mexico’s child welfare agency, in which children in state custody without immediate adequate placements are temporarily housed in office buildings.
The New Mexican reports CYFD already had stopped the practice as of Friday, according to a news release.
Acting Cabinet Secretary Valerie Sandoval said in a statement the agency has “expanded provider partnerships and established transitional programs” to address the issue.
The governor’s order explicitly requires CYFD to place children in safe, licensed settings designed to care for children. It also directs the agency to expand its collaboration with housing providers.
Navajo Nation member detained by ICE despite proof of citizenship - Nakalya McClelland, Albuquerque Journal
A member of the Navajo Nation was reportedly detained in Phoenix by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer last week while heading to work.
“The reported detention of Peter Yazzie by ICE agents in the Phoenix area is deeply troubling and raises serious concerns about the treatment of Native Americans and U.S. citizens during federal enforcement operations,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a news release posted to Facebook on Saturday.
Yazzie, according to the news release, told ICE agents he was a U.S. citizen and showed the agents multiple official documents to prove his identity — including his birth certificate and Certificate of Indian Blood.
A Certificate of Indian Blood is an official U.S. document from the Bureau of Indian Affairs that proves a person's Native American lineage and what federally recognized tribe they are part of.
“Despite this, he was aggressively detained and removed from the scene,” Nygren said. “This should never happen — especially to a Native American on his way to work.”
The Navajo Nation did not respond to calls for comment. An ICE spokesperson did not respond to calls for comment.
On Monday, the New Mexico State Senate Democratic Caucus sent a letter to New Mexico's federal delegation calling for immediate congressional oversight of ICE "in response to mounting deaths in custody, fatal enforcement incidents, and systematic constitutional violations," according to a Monday news release.
The letter also mentioned concerns of wrongful detentions of Indigenous citizens, "including Navajo Nation and Oglala Sioux tribal members who were stopped or held despite presenting valid tribal identification and proof of citizenship," the letter states.
"Immigrants are central to New Mexico's economy, culture, communities and families," the letter states. "When these communities are harmed, all of New Mexico suffers — and our nation fails its promise of justice and due process."
Nygren said in the release that Navajo Nation Washington Office staff reached out to Yazzie, the Department of Homeland Security and the Arizona congressional delegation to discuss the incident.
Nygren said that the Office of Vital records is underfunded due to a 638 contract — which allows Native American tribes to contract with the federal government to run their own federal programs and services. The office cannot issue tribal IDs, which are official photo identification cards issued by a federally recognized Native American tribe to its enrolled members.
He added that he would host tribal ID drives in Albuquerque, Denver and Phoenix to ensure everyone has any documentation they may need, “especially for those living off the Navajo Nation.”
“Our Diné people should not have to live in fear of being stopped, questioned or detained simply because of who they are or how they look,” Nygren said. “Native Americans are not immigrants in our own homelands. We are citizens of the United States and citizens of our sovereign tribal nations, and our rights must be respected.”
NM Democrats propose expansion of services covered under health insurance - KUNM News
Two New Mexico lawmakers have authored a bill that would expand health insurance coverage to include services provided by licensed naprapaths, chiropractors, and acupuncturists.
State Democratic Senators Linda Trujillo and Peter Wirth have announced the introduction of the “Inclusion in Healthcare Act.”
A news release from the state senators said the legislation would ensure that insurance plans cannot deny access or coverage to qualified manual medicine practitioners.
The release says the bill would expand treatment options for common conditions such as joint pain and back pain, which are the second and third most common reasons patients seek medical care.
The bill’s authors said any of the licensed practitioners who would benefit from this legislation already practiced in rural and underserved areas of New Mexico, where access to traditional medical providers is most limited.
Rio Arriba County Health & Human Services Department launches Overdose Quick Response Program - KUNM News
Rio Arriba County has announced the implementation of a new overdose response program.
The initiative is designed to provide rapid support to people who have overdosed on a drug.
A release from the county says limited accommodation at inpatient facilities in Española and elsewhere in Rio Arriba County makes it difficult for those with substance use concerns to pursue sobriety or recovery.
In an effort to address these gaps, the Rio Arriba County Health and Human Services Department has partnered with the County Fire and Emergency Services Department, the Sheriff’s Office, and area volunteer fire departments, along with Pecos Valley Counseling to provide care coordination and delivery for those who have experienced an overdose.
The release says services are also available to anyone seeking inpatient treatment and recovery.
County officials say the Rio Arriba County Quick Response Program team has conducted extensive research on successful models throughout New Mexico and across the U.S., and have based this initiative on successful efforts compatible with the particular needs of Rio Arriba County.