HMS transportation program delivers 750 rides to rural patients

In a rural county, a medical appointment only matters if a patient can actually get there. Hidalgo Medical Services has now turned that problem into a working transportation network, delivering more than 750 rides to 547 patients across Hidalgo and Grant counties since the service launched on Dec. 8, 2025.

The program started with two ADA-compliant transport vans, one dedicated to Hidalgo County and one to Grant County, and HMS said the vehicles are being used to get established patients to scheduled medical, behavioral health, dental and Community Health Worker appointments. The service is limited to patients with a transportation need who cannot otherwise secure a ride, making it a practical lifeline for residents in Lordsburg, Animas and the more remote parts of the Bootheel, where a missed trip can mean delayed treatment or no care at all.

HMS said the program served patients from 10 months old to 88 years old between December and April, with 224 male patients and 323 female patients. Ridership climbed steadily from 55 rides in December 2025 to 203 rides in April 2026, and the program surpassed its original monthly goal of 170 to 175 rides in both March and April. HMS said that growth shows the service is being used as a core access point, not a side benefit.

The vans are state-licensed Non-Emergency Medical Transport vehicles, equipped for wheelchairs, power chairs and mobility scooters. Drivers are trained in Non-Emergency Medical Transportation and certified in First Aid, CPR and AED use, a detail that matters in a region where transportation is often tied directly to safety and mobility, not just convenience.

Dr. Dan Otero said transportation can be the deciding factor in whether a patient receives care, and Lacey Brown-Contreras said access begins with the ability to physically get to an appointment. HMS said the program is being supported in part by the New Mexico Rural Health Care Delivery Fund, which is also helping expand neuropsychological testing and plan additional services such as mobile crisis response, a mobile health unit and a dental unit.

The stakes are high in southwest New Mexico. HMS said some patients previously had to travel more than four hours to see specialists and could wait up to a year for an appointment. In-house neuropsychological testing has cut those waits to a few weeks, but transportation remains the first hurdle. HMS, which has served the region for 30 years as a Federally Qualified Health Center, is also balancing mobility needs with other services, after it said four of its five senior centers would transition back to agency management because of rising operational costs.