UNM Hospital to end care at Bernalillo County jail in 2027
UNM Hospital will stop caring for detainees at MDC in July 2027, and Bernalillo County is already mapping the handoff to a new provider.
UNM Hospital will end healthcare services at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in 2027, and Bernalillo County has started planning for the replacement care that will have to cover medical and behavioral health needs at the jail on 100 Deputy Dean Miera Dr. SW. The current agreement is set to end in July 2027, but the hospital will keep serving MDC detainees through that year while the transition is worked out.
The shift matters because MDC is not a side program. It is Bernalillo County’s jail, and the provider that takes over will have to keep people receiving medical treatment, behavioral health care and urgent response inside a facility that houses detainees around the clock. Bernalillo County and UNM Hospital first laid the groundwork for the partnership in early 2023, when the county announced on Feb. 17 that it would partner with UNM Hospital for MDC medical and behavioral health services.
The timeline moved quickly after that. Bernalillo County said on April 26, 2023, that an agreement had set the stage for UNM Hospital to provide medical services at MDC, and by Aug. 2, 2023, the county said UNM Hospital was providing those medical services. A Bernalillo County joint powers agreement says the county had endeavored in good faith to provide or contract to provide mental health services and medical services to detainees housed at MDC.
The handoff also has to account for staffing and emergency response. A June 7, 2023 behavioral health working-group recommendations document called for better coordination with MDC in conjunction with UNM Hospital, and a March 24, 2026 UNM Jobs listing for a Director - Rapid Response Team (Paramedics) - Metropolitan Detention Center - UNM Hospital shows the hospital’s operational role remained active well before the 2027 end date.
That makes the transition more than a contract change. Whoever takes over will inherit responsibility for continuous care inside one of the county’s most sensitive facilities, where gaps in medical coverage or behavioral health response can quickly become jail-management problems and taxpayer costs. Bernalillo County and UNM Hospital are now on the clock to avoid that break in service.
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