Gallup launches local sexual assault nurse examiner program for survivors

Survivors of sexual assault in Gallup can now get trauma-informed medical and forensic care in town instead of making the long trip to Albuquerque, Farmington or parts of Arizona.

Sexual Assault Services of Northwest New Mexico has launched an in-house Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program in Gallup, giving McKinley County residents a local place to receive injury documentation, evidence collection, testing for sexually transmitted infections, preventive medication and emergency contraception, depending on what each survivor wants. The service also does not require a report to law enforcement, a detail that can matter for people who are not ready to contact police but still need immediate care and evidence preservation.

The new program is designed to keep survivors closer to support at a time when speed and privacy matter most. In most adult cases, the organization also offers advocacy and free therapy for survivors and their families. The New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs says SANE exams can include physical assessment, forensic photography and evidence collection up to five days after an assault, which makes local access especially important in the first hours after an attack.

Lacey Guinn, the associate director for Sexual Assault Services of Northwest New Mexico, said the launch was a big deal and reflected what the community had been asking for. The nonprofit has served San Juan, Rio Arriba and McKinley counties since 2004, and it opened its Gallup office in February 2014 to better reach people in McKinley County and Navajo Nation chapter-house communities.

The group says that as of February 2026, Gallup would be offering SANE exams at its new office location or coordinating with other providers in the area. Its Gallup office is listed at 300 W. Hill Ave., Suite A, Gallup, and its contact page also lists 111 S. 1st Street, Gallup, with office number 505-399-5940. The 24-hour crisis hotline is 866-908-4700.

The Gallup launch also fits into a broader state effort to repair a long-standing gap in sexual assault care. The New Mexico Department of Public Safety says the state received more than $2 million in federal grant funding in 2016 to test more than 1,500 backlogged sexual assault evidence kits and build a statewide tracking system, which launched in May 2020. The state’s Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights took effect on July 1, 2019.

A 2026 New Mexico Senate memorial cited the 2024 New Mexico Crime Victimization Report in saying 54% of New Mexicans have experienced sexual assault or rape in their lifetimes, 40% were 12 or younger at the time of the first incident, and 28% said they were injured enough to need medical care. In McKinley County, the new Gallup program changes the first response from a distant drive to a local exam, local advocacy and a better chance to preserve evidence when it still matters most.