[Editor's Note: The Grant County Commission held a work session on Dec. 12, 2023. This part 1 begins with presentations.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

The first presentation at the Grant County Commission work session on Dec. 12, 2023, came from Hidalgo Medical Services Chief Executive Officer Dr. Dan Otero. He said HMS had sent a document to the commissioners hoping to show some data. "I hope you had a chance to review it prior to today's presentation."

He said he also had Susie Trujillo and Dr. Teresa Arizona in attendance on the behavioral health side of the updates.

"Most of you have heard that we got clarification from the state on the Crisis Triage Center at Tu Casa," Otero said. "We are moving forward with our current licensure and moving forward to get the center staffed to be able to receive patients for treatment. We hope it plays out as planned. It will take a couple of months to get staff who will be primarily on call when service is needed."

He said a really new announcement involves the two HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) that HMS had applied for. "The grants will replace the clinics in Mimbres and in Animas. We've been using a lease agreement with Casas Adobes for the facility in Mimbres. That lease came to an end, so we put together a month-to-month agreement to keep using the facility. We were hoping to be in the new facility by the end of the year, but now we are looking at the end of January. We have two things coming together that could bring services to a halt in Mimbres at the end of January. We are waiting on utilities and we hope to get everything done as quickly as possible so we can open the new facility."

District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards said she was looking at the data. "Are you really seeing 15 patients an hour?"

Otero said those visits include all of the 13 clinical sites across the HMS system.

District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne asked about senior services. "I was curious to know if you were aware of the group that is working on senior services here in town."

Otero said he has spoken with several individuals "We're going to schedule a meeting to discuss what HMS can provide and support."

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce said he hears from county citizens who are looking for more transportation to events and functions, as well as to doctor appointments. "How can we reach out to some of our seniors who don't have capability for internet and such? I haven't had a chance to talk to the county manager (Charlene Webb) about this yet, and I know Corre Caminos has been mentioned, but it's under federal control and we can't just put a route in place without permission. Please keep it in mind about how we can expand our services."

Otero said HMS is trying to ramp up transportation services. "I will share a few years ago, we got financial support from Freeport to continue to fund transportation. We're trying to get that funding again and also for the Compassion for Seniors program. We've done a lot of good, but we need to get more funding."

District 2 Commissioner Eloy Medina said at the recent meeting on the homeless situation with presentations by Farmington and how they are dealing with the issue. "Farmington has better financial support. Are there any other avenues for getting more resources for funding?"

Otero said he had not been able to attend the event due to being out of town, "but Dr. Arizaga and other of my colleagues were there. I've had discussions that noted that the funding there has come from the municipality and the county. Even though our rates are about the same, our financial needs are different. We need to come together so we don't close the crisis triage center as we did last time. If we are not getting the referrals or the patients that we can bill the insurance companies for , we need to keep the conversation going. If the financials aren't going to work, we need to know that beforehand. We are working with Dr. Lundstrom on a 14-day crisis stabilization unit. That's where the economies of scale will come in."

"We've talked about the CCBHC (certified community behavioral health clinics)," Otero said. "The state planned a couple of years ago for every county to have a CCBHC center. We've been attending state meetings and we're at the cost analysis stage right now and we will be applying in 2024 for the certification. There are nine stages and that's exactly what you're talking about, not only the back end but the front end of services all the way through the continuum of behavioral health services. New Mexico is one of the states that has not yet adopted the CCBHCs, but they are committed to it as a community-based service, so that HMS doesn't have to do all the services, but we need to make sure someone in the community provides those services."

Medina said he missed the deadline for applying for funding for services, but "maybe we can be ready next time."

"We did ask for funding for six different services," Otero said. "We got notified on Friday that we did not get awarded any of them. We were really disappointed."

Edwards asked when the report from Dr. Lundstrom would be completed.

Webb replied that it is expected by the end of December.

Edwards said one of the things "we struggle with is sort of an overall vision for behavioral health in the community."

Webb said that is the focus of the report to understand how Tu Casa can fill the needs and to understand what the clientele is and what is the proper funding mechanism. "I say we will have the report, but I don't think we should rush it. We need to give Dr. Lundstrom enough time so that he evaluates all of our systems, so we have the best plan moving forward. It's not just the 24-hour and 14 day thing. We're looking for a model for the 14-day stay that will work for Tu Casa. I believe the mapping project that is ongoing will help us looking froward to the overall system."

The next presentation will come from Dr. Teresa Arizona.