HMS to unveil new Mobile Dental Unit at Silver City ribbon-cutting

Hidalgo Medical Services will unveil its new Mobile Dental Unit at a Tuesday ribbon-cutting in Silver City, a move aimed at bringing dental care closer to Hidalgo County families who now have to travel for basic treatment. The event is set for 10 a.m. at the HMS Community Health Center, and the organization says attendees will learn what the unit will provide and how it is meant to improve access across the region.

The new unit matters most for residents in places like Lordsburg, Animas and other outlying parts of Hidalgo County, where a routine cleaning or follow-up visit can turn into a long drive. HMS says it is the only Federally Qualified Health Center in both Hidalgo and Grant counties, and it already serves southwestern New Mexico through 13 community clinics and more than a dozen locations. Its dental program currently operates out of the Silver City Community Health Center and the Lordsburg Clinic, where it offers preventive, restorative, emergency and pediatric care.

The mobile unit is the next step in a broader expansion of outreach services. HMS said in February that it launched a Medical Mobile Clinic with support from the New Mexico Rural Health Care Delivery Funds, and a March update said the organization was working on three additional services for the region: mobile crisis response, a mobile health unit and a dental unit. HMS also said the same funding supports patient transportation services, a sign that the organization sees mobility as part of the care itself, not just a convenience.

That strategy is aimed at a real access problem in rural health care. HMS says it provides care to more than 15,000 unduplicated patients each year, and another report said the organization had 274 employees while serving 16,854 unduplicated patients in a recent year. For families without reliable transportation, a mobile dental unit could mean fewer missed workdays, fewer missed school days and fewer cases where a cavity or toothache is ignored until it becomes an emergency.

The project also builds on state-backed investment. A 2025 report said HMS received a share of a $40.6 million rural health care funding package and planned to use the money for two mobile units, one for primary care and one for dental services. HMS says it has been expanding services in the region since its incorporation in 1995, with support from Rural Primary Health Care Act funding and local leaders. The new dental unit is the latest sign that HMS is trying to stretch care farther than a fixed clinic can reach.