SRMC is expanding behavioral health services to address long-standing access gaps, increasing demand, and the unique geographic and cultural challenges of serving Rio Rancho and the diverse communities throughout Sandoval County. The goal is to build a comprehensive, locally based continuum of care so individuals and families can receive timely behavioral health services closer to home rather than routinely traveling to Albuquerque.

Currently, the SRMC Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis team provides dedicated coverage Monday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Outside these hours, the UNM Hospital Lomas-based team provides backup and may deploy to Sandoval County as needed. While this partnership extends crisis coverage, Sandoval County’s geographic size, cultural diversity, travel distances, and increasing behavioral health needs demonstrate the need for a more robust and self-reliant Sandoval County team. Additional behavioral health responders, clinical staffing, and operational resources would allow SRMC to expand dedicated coverage and reduce reliance on teams traveling from Albuquerque.

Mobile crisis responders provide community-based suicide intervention and risk assessment, verbal de-escalation, behavioral health screening, coping-skill support, Narcan administration, crisis case management, connection to treatment and community resources, and post-crisis support.

Another priority is strengthening SRMC’s ability to safely address behavioral health crises within the Emergency Department, including behavioral health-specific areas designed for safety, dignity, therapeutic intervention, assessment, stabilization, and appropriate observation.

Sandoval County also needs greater access to local inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services. Expanding psychiatric, therapeutic, substance-use, inpatient, outpatient, and behavioral health walk-in services would reduce barriers to care and the need for patients and families to travel to Albuquerque for treatment.

Together, these investments would create a more accessible, culturally responsive, and sustainable behavioral health continuum, providing the right level of care, at the right time, as close to home as possible for Rio Rancho and Sandoval County communities.

$800,000 annually of philanthropic support is requested to expand this important initiative and create a more comprehensive and sustainable behavioral health crisis response system for Rio Rancho and Sandoval County.

Rural communities often face significant barriers to accessing timely primary and specialty care, including limited providers and long travel distances. Expanding primary care on our campus will help ensure patients have a trusted medical home while providing seamless access to specialty services located on the same campus – creating a more convenient, connected continuum of care close to home.

• Primary Care Expansion: Foundation support would expand access to primary care by providing funding to recruit and add additional physicians and advanced practice providers to our care team. This investment would increase appointment availability, reduce barriers to timely care, and help ensure more patients have access to high-quality primary care close to home.

• Specialty Care Expansion: Foundation support would expand access to specialty care services that are currently limited or unavailable on our campus, including rheumatology, where access is especially limited across New Mexico. By bringing more specialty clinics directly to the campus, we can create a convenient “one-stop shop” for patients, offering comprehensive primary and specialty care in one location while reducing travel and barriers to care.

$2.5 million of philanthropic support annually will fund this important work.

SRMC’s strategic direction for Surgical Services includes these priorities:

• Expand and improve the Total Joint Program at SRMC. Adding a Mako robot for knee and shoulder replacements will enhance the efficiency and accuracy of these procedures, provide for better patient experiences (less pain and faster healing), and improve overall outcomes.

$1.3 million would be required to expand this service.

• Revitalize the OR booms for the medical gases, networking, and power to the surgical teams, improving staff and provider efficiency and capabilities.

$1 million would be required for this initiative.

• Replace six Dräger anesthesia machines to update the fleet and technology to enhance the care provided by our anesthesiologists.

$650,000 would be required for this initiative.

• Replace the sole MRI scanner that was installed when SRMC opened (equipment + renovation): $3 million

• Replace the original CT scanner that was installed when SRMC opened (equipment + renovation): $2.5 million

• Replace the original interventional radiology equipment that was installed when SRMC opened (equipment + renovation): $3 million