Dear Ms. Acosta, Board Chairwoman Hidalgo Medical Services (HMS) and HMS Board of Directors (BOD),

We appreciate your response to our letter, received on 05/07/2025.

As stated in our letter, we are happy to meet with any board member on a 1:1 basis to discuss our concerns and have a frank and open dialogue as schedules allow. Additionally, several of us intend to meet with the BOD after your scheduled BOD meeting on 05/22/2025 in Lordsburg.

However, as we are sure you can appreciate, many of us are busy clinicians and cannot attend in-person meetings during the middle of the day. To avoid adversely impacting patient care and allow for full participation and an open discussion, we request consideration of the following alternative.

We propose meeting at a large public venue in Grant County on 05/28/2025 at 6:30 pm. This will allow many of us to participate in person or remotely because of schedules, etc. We have contracted with a professional facilitator from outside the community to ensure open and fair discussion in a safe forum for the BOD.

As the current issues of HMS deeply impact the community, the public will be invited to this discussion. As you know, federally qualified health care centers (FQHCs) such as HMS must have a patient-majority governing board. FQHCs are designed to operate responsively to the unique needs of the local communities that they serve. Transparency and opportunities for public input are critical to this dialogue.

Lastly, in addition to Dr. Teresa Arizaga and Isaac Saucedo, PAC, who have both announced their resignations, we are aware of multiple physical health and behavioral health clinicians who are also leaving HMS imminently. We ask that the BOD release all current practitioners from non-disparagement clauses in their contracts to participate in this discussion so that the community can have an up-to-date understanding of the challenges these clinicians face and how to address them moving forward.

We appreciate your anticipated response and look forward to partnering with each of you to impact the communities HMS serves positively.

Regards,

Gilbert Arizaga, MD

Marisa Shapiro, FNP

Brandon Ferguson, MD

Darrick Nelson, MD

Marlene Baska, PAC

Brian Etheridge, MD

Julie Fitzgerald, PAC

Don Stephens, MD

Brian Robinson, MD

Pedro Armendariz, MD

Randi Murphy, DNP, FNP-C

On Wed, May 7, 2025 at 2:45 PM Carmen Acosta <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>; wrote:

The HMS Board of Directors received your letter dated May 3, 2025, subject line "No Confidence in Leadership." We have read your letter and acknowledge its contents. The HMS Board of Directors has confidence regarding the status of operations and the personnel turnover situations based on written and verbal reports from each executive leader, including the CEO.

Regardless, the Board of Directors welcomes each of the members who have their names listed on your letter to meet with us in-person on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at 2:00 p.m., immediately following our monthly Board meeting at our Lordsburg Main Clinic located at 530 E. DeMoss St., Lordsburg, NM 88045.

Sincerely,

Carmen Acosta

HMS Board Chairwoman