Raymond Sanchez, director of the Montanes of North Area Health Education Center (AHEC) based at Luna Community College and affiliated with the University of New Mexico Office for Community Health, described the AHEC program’s work on July 16 to a House Health & Human Services Committee that included recruitment, training and community-based prevention initiatives.
Sanchez told lawmakers AHEC’s core activities include an AHEC scholars pipeline for health students, continuing-education sponsorships for local providers, and school- and community-based programming such as QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) suicide-prevention training and mental-health first aid. He described frequent, small-group trainings (QPR sessions with caps of about 30 participants) and said he personally travels to middle schools, high schools and college campuses to present on mental health, careers in health care and prevention topics including vaping and diabetes prevention.
Sanchez said AHEC is federally funded (HRSA) and that he manages multiple grants and region-wide work; he described partnerships with providers and organizations including El Centro Family Health, Sunrise Clinics and Alta Vista Hospital. He said his role also includes training community health workers and community health representatives on Pueblos, working on the CHW board and supporting events such as the Walk for Hope suicide-prevention activities.
Sanchez and health-council members told the committee the San Miguel County Family and Community Health Council is rebuilding after staff turnover and is focusing on behavioral health, suicide prevention, overdose and substance-use prevention, nutrition and chronic-disease education. Sanchez said the council meets monthly and lists partners including school administrators, hospital staff and county health promotion specialists.
Committee members encouraged AHEC to connect with broader state behavioral-health planning (SB3/AOC regional planning) and to engage county health councils in those processes. Legislators also suggested linking AHEC activity to federal-funding stabilization conversations given anticipated federal grant pressure; Sanchez said AHEC and several local programs face potential cuts without stable federal support.
Sanchez asked the committee to help publicize school- and career-pathway opportunities, to support health career pipelines and loan-repayment incentives for clinicians who choose rural placements, and to consider additional funding for county and tribal health councils to sustain local prevention and training work.