Report Type: Data Profile Recommendations
NM Health Care Workforce Committee Annual Report
YEAR
2025
AUTHOR / ORGANIZATION
UNM Health Sciences Center
GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE
Bernalillo County, Statewide (New Mexico)
What is this?
This is an annual legislative report mandated by the New Mexico Health Care Workforce Data Collection, Analysis and Policy Act (NM Stat § 24-14C-1), transmitted to multiple state committees including the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee and Legislative Finance Committee. The report represents New Mexico's nationally recognized health care workforce surveillance system, established in 2011. The methodology combines licensure data with mandatory license renewal surveys administered by health professional licensing boards. The report uses benchmark analysis comparing county-level provider counts to national standards, demand analysis from the Department of Workforce Solutions examining employment projections and job postings, and Full-Time Equivalent calculations from the Health Care Authority. A 2022 ransomware attack on the Regulation and Licensing Department limited updated data availability for several professions, with behavioral health professionals (counselors, psychologists, social workers) having only 2021 data available.
Summary
This legislatively mandated report provides essential data for behavioral health systems change by documenting severe workforce shortages across New Mexico counties. The behavioral health analysis reveals only 101 psychiatric APRNs practicing statewide, with 24 of 33 counties below benchmark for psychiatrists. Bernalillo County, while having the highest concentration of behavioral health providers, still faces access challenges. The report’s Full-Time Equivalent analysis shows core mental health professions (psychologists, LCSWs, LISWs, LMSWs, LPCCs, LMFTs) are severely maldistributed, with urban counties having dramatically higher per-capita rates than rural areas. For Bernalillo County specifically, the data can identify which provider types are most needed and inform strategies for loan repayment targeting, training pipeline development, and cross-county service delivery models. The committee’s recommendations to join interstate behavioral health compacts and increase Medicaid rates to 250% of Medicare by FY 2030 directly address systemic barriers to behavioral health access. The workforce data supports strategic investment in behavioral health integration models and crisis care infrastructure.
BH Systems Change Recommendations
Explicit Behavioral Health Systems Change Recommendations from Report: 1. Appropriate $20 million to support the Health Professional Loan Repayment Program (targets recruitment/retention of behavioral health providers in underserved areas) 2. Appropriate $5 million to support the New Mexico Health Services Corps (places providers including behavioral health in underserved communities) 3. Appropriate $35 million to support the Rural Healthcare Delivery Fund (supports behavioral health services in rural areas) 4. Increase Medicaid funding in FY 2027 to raise specialty and preventive care rates, provide higher payments for rural services, and implement a five-year plan to reach 250% of Medicare rates by FY 2030 (directly impacts behavioral health reimbursement) 5. Join existing interstate behavioral health care worker compacts (facilitates telehealth and cross-border practice for behavioral health providers) 6. Appropriate $2 million to support the New Mexico Higher Education Department's Loan for Service Programs (supports behavioral health training pipelines) 7. Appropriate recurring $600,000 to establish New Mexico Health Care Workforce Analysis Center (ensures continued behavioral health workforce surveillance) Behavioral Health Subcommittee Recommendations (Section V): - Report indicates additional behavioral health-specific recommendations exist in Section V but full detail not provided in available text
How to Use for Systems Planning
What this report IS useful for: - Identifying specific counties with the greatest behavioral health workforce shortages for targeted investment - Understanding the demographic composition of the behavioral health workforce (age, race, gender, practice settings) - Comparing behavioral health provider distribution across New Mexico counties using standardized benchmarks - Informing loan repayment and recruitment program targeting - Supporting grant applications with county-level workforce gap data - Planning for workforce pipeline development based on retirement projections (age data provided) - Understanding which behavioral health provider types are most scarce in specific regions What this report DOES NOT provide: - Current (2024) data for psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, and social workers due to ransomware attack - Analysis of behavioral health provider capacity relative to actual population need or demand - Quality of care or patient outcome metrics - Medicaid enrollment or payer mix by county - Crisis response capacity or wait time data - Telehealth utilization or availability data - Workforce satisfaction or burnout indicators - Cultural competency or language capability data
Key Facts & Data Points
- 309 psychiatrists practicing in New Mexico (2021 data), with 24 of 33 counties below benchmark - 119 additional psychiatrists needed to bring all counties to benchmark - 101 psychiatric APRNs practicing statewide in 2024 - Core mental health professions include psychologists, LCSWs, LISWs, LMSWs, LPCCs, and LMFTs - 30% of New Mexico's 2.1 million residents live in rural or frontier counties - Median county is 3,758 square miles with population density of 6.95 persons per square mile - 38.5% of non-elderly population insured by Medicaid (highest in nation) - 26.5% of adults report having no personal doctor - Projected national primary care physician shortage of 86,000 by 2036 - Nurse practitioner employment projected to grow 64.5% by 2032 - Psychiatric APRN workforce: 73.2% identify as white, 79.4% female, 50.5% work in outpatient settings - Committee recommends $20 million for Health Professional Loan Repayment Program - Committee recommends $35 million for Rural Healthcare Delivery Fund
Priority Services & Findings
**Mental Health / Crisis Care**: - 309 psychiatrists in state (2021), with 119 additional needed to bring all counties to benchmark - 24 of 33 counties are below psychiatrist benchmarks - 101 psychiatric APRNs (CNPs/CNSs with psychiatry specialty) practicing in 2024 - Psychiatric APRNs concentrated in urban counties; rural counties severely underserved - 50.5% of psychiatric APRNs work in outpatient settings; 5.2% in community mental health centers - Core mental health professions severely maldistributed between urban and rural counties - Behavioral Health Subcommittee recommendations included in Section V **SUD Organizations**: - Report does not separately track SUD-specific providers - Core mental health professions (LCSWs, LPCCs) serve SUD populations - Medicaid rate increases recommended would impact SUD treatment access - Rural Healthcare Delivery Fund could support integrated SUD services **Integrated Primary Care**: - 1,649 primary care physicians practicing (2021), with 334 additional needed - 25 of 33 counties below PCP benchmark - 2,467 certified nurse practitioners practicing (2024), with significant growth - Nurse practitioner employment projected to grow 64.5% by 2032 - Recommendation to increase Medicaid rates supports primary care-behavioral health integration - Family medicine physicians projected to increase 20.8% by 2032 **School-Based / Youth Services**: - 230 pediatricians practicing statewide (2024 employment data) - Pediatrician employment projected to increase 14.9% by 2032 - 22.6% of children under 18 living in poverty - Report does not separately track school-based mental health providers
Immediate Actions for Systems Planners
-Use county-level benchmark data to identify priority areas for behavioral health workforce investment in Bernalillo County and surrounding regions, focusing on counties with the greatest gaps below benchmark. -Extract psychiatric APRN distribution data (Table 5.1, 5.4) to map current capacity against crisis response and outpatient service needs in the Bernalillo County behavioral health system. -Reference core mental health professions FTE analysis (Section III) to inform staffing models for community behavioral health centers and integrated primary care settings. -Incorporate workforce shortage documentation into grant applications for SAMHSA and other federal behavioral health funding opportunities. -Use age distribution data for psychiatric APRNs (Table 5.5) to project retirement-driven workforce losses and plan training pipeline investments accordingly. -Review demand analysis (Section II) for nurse practitioners to inform recruitment strategies, given 64.5% projected employment growth through 2032. -Monitor legislative action on the ten committee recommendations, particularly Medicaid rate increases and interstate compact participation, which directly impact behavioral health provider recruitment. -Coordinate with New Mexico Health Care Authority on Full-Time Equivalent methodology for more accurate behavioral health capacity planning within integrated care models.
Key Contacts
**/ - Hengameh Raissy, PharmD, Chair, NM Health Care Workforce Committee, UNM Health Sciences Center = - Hala Reeder, Health Analyst, NM Health Care Authority = - Jen Panhorst, Community Behavioral Health **/ - Tomas Granados, NM Board of Psychologist Examiners = - Crystal Begay, NM DOH Office of Primary Care & Rural Health **/ - Yvette Ramirez-Ammerman, NM Primary Care Association = - NM Dept of Workforce Solutions, Economic Research & Analysis Bureau