Community News

Silver City, NM – Gila Regional Medical Center (GRMC) is pleased to announce that the Grant County Community Partnership for Children has been selected as the recipient of its Q4 2025 donation, funded through a portion of cafeteria sales. This initiative is part of GRMC's outreach program, Gila Regional CARES: Community, Assistance, Resources, Engagement, and Support.

For over 18 years, the Community Partnership for Children has been dedicated to supporting early childhood education providers and families in rural Grant County, New Mexico. Their mission is to ensure that young children receive the best possible start in life by offering access to childcare programs, family support services, assistance in building childcare businesses, networks that connect and strengthen childcare providers, and a parent support group that fosters community and shared learning. Through these efforts, the organization helps families and providers create nurturing environments where children can thrive.

Pictured from left to right: Chief Portillo; Lt. Manuel Jaure; Capt. Antonio Carillo and Capt. Joseph Aguirre. Photo and article by Lisa Jimenez.Silver City -- The Silver City Police Department has a completely new command staff with two new captains and a lieutenant on board, each of whom have been tasked with developing strategies to support a more community-oriented approach to policing, announced Chief Freddie Portillo. Members of the new command staff are Investigations Captain Antonio Carrillo, Administrative Lieutenant Manuel "Manny" Jaure, and Patrol Captain Joseph Aguirre.

"My administration is responsible for ongoing community outreach, and each new commander is expected to come up with events, forums and other creative opportunities to meet with concerned citizens and find common ground and solutions for the betterment of the community," said Chief Portillo.  "Also, new software allows us to share more real-time information with the public regarding criminal activity, special operations and other efforts to increase transparency and keep the public better informed about what we are doing to serve and protect the community."

Developing, reviewing, and maintaining quality measures used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is important for improving the quality of healthcare in the United States. 

Since 2024, Hidalgo Medical Services (HMS) has participated in a national, consensus-based process for reviewing and endorsing quality measures for use by CMS. HMS Director of Quality and Safety, Ethan Novikoff, MPH, was appointed to serve on two Partnership for Quality Measurement review committees on behalf of HMS in July 2024. Mr. Novikoff currently serves on a Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review committee, which focuses on reviewing measures under consideration and deciding whether to recommend a measure for use in a specific CMS program. This committee consists of diverse representatives from all facets of the health care system, including patients, caregivers, patient advocates, and traditionally underrepresented groups. 

Joshua Ratcliff (left) and Myron Weckworth (right) celebrate GED success.Cause for Celebration! 

Artist and Literacy Link-Leamos volunteer tutor, Myron Weckworth, and his student, Joshua Ratcliff, had lunch at Adobe Springs this weekend to celebrate Joshua completing his GED. Throughout 2025, Myron and Joshua met weekly to study Math, and Joshua aced the test on December 15th.

“It fulfilled my 2025 New Year’s Resolution,” he smiled. Joshua plans to apply to college but isn’t sure what he’ll study, “Maybe Astronomy, maybe Architecture, but definitely some Music.”

Left to right: Lorenzo Saenz, Marlene Holman, Fran Driver, Pam Johnson, Dr. Dan Otero, and Roberta Berrry.Hidalgo Medical Services (HMS) recently donated a variety of essential medical supplies to the Western New Mexico University (WNMU) Nursing Program in support of hands‑on student learning and clinical skill development.

The donation included syringes, masks, needles, iodine swab sticks, and several other critical medical items used in nursing education. These supplies will help ensure nursing students have access to the tools needed to practice procedures safely and effectively as they prepare for careers in healthcare.

"Supporting the next generation of healthcare professionals is an important part of our mission," said Dr. Dan Otero, CEO of HMS. "We're proud to contribute resources that will directly benefit students and strengthen local nursing education."

The WNMU School of Nursing promotes health and improved quality of life for diverse populations through nursing education grounded in community values, scholarship, professional practice, and service.

Community partnerships like this help bridge resource needs in educational programs while reinforcing HMS's dedication to healthcare advancement and student development.

Janna Mintz knows how to plant a tree according to Tree New Mexico (Tree NM), an urban forestry nonprofit that is branching out to Silver City. 

The nonprofit certified Mintz as the first Silver City resident to achieve the status of Tree Planting Team Leader – trained in successful tree planting methods and ready to lead volunteers in efforts to increase the region's urban canopy.

Owner of Wild Rocket Gardens, Mintz said, "It's a good certification to add to my garden coaching. I teach people about seeds and about gardening, and trees add to the ecosystem offering so many benefits like cooling the air, cooling the soil, and cooling the streets."

Tree NM plants free trees in homeowners' front yards to shade sidewalks and decrease the heat island effect from roadways. With her certification, Mintz will teach volunteers how to successfully plant trees using methods Tree NM has refined for over three decades. According to Tree NM arborist Luis Santiago, trees planted by the nonprofit have an up to 85 percent survival rate after three years (with some neighborhoods even higher) – industry standard is typically much lower. 

Please see the PDF below for full information.

Grant County is thrilled to introduce TextMyGov, a convenient and smart text messaging service. This service will enable residents to effortlessly receive important notifications and easily find specific information by texting the County. This solution will allow the County to have a centralized management portal to send out mass notifications to residents in the County.  These notifications will be along the lines of emergencies, events, closures, severe weather alerts, etc. TextMyGov will also be the new IPAWS Alert Origination Software Provider for the County which will allow the County to continue to send the same IPAWS emergency alerts/messages that were used during the Trout Fire.