The New Mexico Department of Health has opened the state’s first primary care clinic operated in direct partnership with a Native American tribe, expanding healthcare access in a region where 96% of rural counties face physician shortages.
The Ruidoso Primary Care Clinic, launched through a partnership between NMDOH and the Mescalero Apache Tribe, offers wellness visits, chronic disease management, mental health services and women’s health care. The clinic operates with evening and weekend hours specifically designed to serve rural and tribal communities.
“This bold and necessary step toward health equity reflects our unwavering respect for Tribal sovereignty and a commitment to true government-to-government partnership,” said Janet Johnson, Tribal Liaison for NMDOH, in a press release. Johnson noted the initiative will “reduce travel and wait times and honor the sovereignty and voice of the Mescalero Apache people.”
The partnership addresses critical healthcare gaps in Lincoln County, where residents previously relied on the Mescalero Service Unit — which operates only four days per week with a 13-bed hospital — or traveled to Lincoln County Medical Center in Ruidoso.
The clinic launch comes as New Mexico grapples with severe rural healthcare access challenges. Rural areas face a poverty rate of 21.2% compared to 15.9% in urban areas, while primary care physician shortages affect nearly all rural counties statewide.
The $1.2 million in legislative funding supporting the pilot program reflects broader state efforts to expand healthcare access. The initiative is part of a larger pilot program that includes clinic locations at NMDOH’s Ruidoso and Albuquerque Southeast Heights public health offices.
“This initiative will increase provider availability, improve access to care, strengthen local infrastructure,” Johnson said in the release.
New Mexico has established formal tribal consultation protocols since 2007, working with all 24 Native American tribes, pueblos, and nations in the state. The department was a key participant in developing the 2007 Health and Human Services State-Tribal Consultation Protocol.
The Mescalero partnership builds on recent federal recognition of innovative tribal healthcare approaches. In October 2024, New Mexico became one of four states to receive federal approval allowing Medicaid coverage of traditional Native healthcare practices for the first time.
The new clinic also addresses challenges facing the Indian Health Service, which has been described as “notoriously underfunded,” leading some New Mexico tribes to manage their own healthcare programs or seek alternative partnerships.
The Mescalero Apache Council, Council Members, Community Services Committee and the tribe’s Community Health Representative program guided the partnership development from the beginning, according to the press release.
State partners include NMDOH, the Ruidoso Public Health Office, Center for Access and Linkage to Healthcare, and the Mescalero Primary Care Advisory Committee. Federal and local partners include the Indian Health Service, Presbyterian Lincoln County Medical Center, Lincoln County Community Health Council, and local school-based health centers.
The clinic integrates services within the existing public health facility, allowing NMDOH to leverage its public health infrastructure to provide clinical services — a model that could be expanded statewide if successful.
“NMDOH’s primary care team is working with these entities to ensure continuity of care,” according to the press release.
The Ruidoso Primary Care Clinic can be reached at 575-545-6789 or RuidosoPrimaryCare@doh.nm.gov. Services include wellness visits, well child checks, chronic disease management, mental health care, and women’s health services.
The clinic’s evening and seasonal weekend hours are designed specifically to benefit rural and tribal communities who may face transportation or work schedule barriers to traditional healthcare access.
