After 52 Years, Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service Closes Feb. 20

Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service, the nonprofit that provided in-home skilled nursing, physical therapy, social work and hospice care in Los Alamos County and parts of Rio Arriba County, closed on Feb. 20, 2026, the agency’s board announced, citing “decreasing payments from patient insurance and sharply increasing health care costs.” The board’s signed statement marked the end of 52 years of service and said operations would cease that Friday.

“After 52 years of dedicated service to the communities of Los Alamos County and Rio Arriba County, Los Alamos Visiting Nurses will close its doors on February 20, 2026,” the board wrote, signing the notice with officers Nancy Coombs, president; Linda Light, vice president; Anita Barela, secretary; and board member Jose Arellano. The announcement also listed Ruben Vasquez as executive director and Susie Edwards, DNPc, RN, as clinical manager.

The board added that “while this chapter is coming to a close, our mission is not being abandoned,” and said it “is currently engaged in active discussions with nonprofit arms of New Mexico hospice agencies, exploring opportunities to preserve the legacy, values, and spirit of Los Alamos Visiting Nurses in some form.” The statement urged local advocacy, calling on residents to contact elected officials and stressing that “sustainable reimbursement and policy reform are essential to preserving access to home health and hospice care in rural New Mexico, now and for future generations.”

Statewide advocates framed the closure as symptomatic of broader funding problems. Meggin Lorino, executive director of the New Mexico Association for Home and Hospice Care, said, “The closure of Los Alamos Visiting Nurses is an alarm bell that all of these underinvestments in care in the home are coming to roost.” Lorino warned that rural providers operate on “razor-thin financial margins,” that impending cuts to Medicaid and an aging population are intensifying pressure, and that although home-based care “in the long run, we help save health care delivery dollars, but … we are not in a reality where that kind of long-term thinking and forward-thinking is really embraced.”

Staff voices captured the local impact of the shutdown. Susie Edwards, clinical manager at LAVNS, who spent more than two decades as an RN in New Mexico emergency rooms before moving into home care, prepared infusions for patients like Gordon McDonough during home visits. Edwards reflected on her work in home health, saying, “It's been one of the most beautiful things that I stumbled into.”

The public record contains no published financial statements, no confirmed successor agency to take over LAVNS’s Los Alamos and Rio Arriba service areas, and no official count of staff layoffs or affected patients as of the closure notice. The board’s announcement and outside reporting indicate discussions with nonprofit hospice arms are ongoing, but no named hospice partner has been confirmed to absorb services or patients displaced by the Feb. 20 shutdown.

The board closed its announcement “With gratitude and respect,” and asked community members to share their experiences with local and state representatives as New Mexico policymakers consider health-care funding changes during the 2026 legislative session.