Kristin Oreskovich, clinical operations manager for the New Mexico Department of Health school‑based health center program, and Nancy Rodriguez, executive director of the New Mexico Alliance for School Based Health Care, told the committee the state has more than doubled access to school‑based clinical services since 2018 and outlined priorities for continued growth.

Oreskovich said DOH funding supported 47 brick‑and‑mortar school‑based health centers in fiscal 2018 and 100 access points in FY25; 41 of the 100 are telehealth hub‑and‑spoke or mobile models. She said the department expects additional expansion and the program estimates about 60,000 visits for FY25, roughly 20,000 more visits than two years earlier.

Oreskovich cited a prior analysis matching school‑based health‑center use to educational outcomes that found students using a school‑based health center were 47% less likely to be chronically absent and more likely to graduate on time; she said DOH plans updated analyses for 2020–25 that will compare pre‑COVID, COVID and post‑COVID cohorts. "Students who utilized a school based health center were 47 percent less likely to be chronically absent for school," Oreskovich told the committee.

Rodriguez and DOH described a multi‑pronged expansion strategy that includes a "funnel" model to bring feeder elementary and middle schools into networks supporting high school centers, telehealth and mobile services to reach rural areas, planning grants to prepare districts and operators, workforce development partnerships with nursing and medical training programs, community health worker (CHW) specialties and partnerships with APS and other large districts to pilot brick‑and‑mortar and mobile slots.

Presenters emphasized behavioral health and substance‑use prevention (SBIRT training and Medicaid billing for adolescent SBIRT), food and hygiene supports at centers, school immunization campaigns and a statewide overdose/vaping education partnership. Rodriguez said school‑based health centers frequently provide behavioral health services and that behavioral visits represent 35–40% of center activity.

Why it matters: presenters told legislators that school‑based health centers provide convenient primary and behavioral health care on campus, reduce barriers to care for students in underserved areas, and are associated with improved attendance and on‑time graduation in a multi‑year matched analysis. DOH and partners asked legislators to support continued funding for expansion, workforce development and integration with school nursing and district services.

Officials invited legislators to site visits and grand‑opening events for new centers scheduled this fall and asked committee members to consider operational barriers such as capital projects and workforce shortages when planning further expansion.