Los Alamos Community Foundation hosts roundtable on Northern New Mexico health care

The Los Alamos Community Foundation, in partnership with the Los Alamos League of Women Voters and Anchorum Health Foundation, will host "Health Care in Northern New Mexico: Changing Landscape," a community roundtable on Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the SALA Los Alamos Event Center, 2551 Central Avenue. The session is free and will feature a panel of local medical experts addressing access, funding, and service stability in the region.

Organizers framed the event around growing local concern. "Many residents have experienced first-hand how access to health care in our region is increasingly at risk," the announcement states. The forum will examine the forces behind that risk and the policy debates unfolding at the state level. "The New Mexico legislature is wrestling with many of these issues right now, including medical practice compacts with other states, the high cost of medical malpractice insurance, decreases in funding for Medicaid, etc."

Panelists listed for the roundtable are Dr. Madhavi Garimella, Diabetes and Metabolism Endocrinologist at Medical Associates of Northern New Mexico in Los Alamos; Dr. Eric Ketcham, Emergency Physician and Addiction Specialist for Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Española; Lillian Montoya, Senior Vice President of CHRISTUS New Mexico and President and CEO of CHRISTUS St. Vincent Health Systems in Santa Fe; and Brenda Romero, CEO of Presbyterian Española Hospital in Española. Members of the audience will have the opportunity to submit short questions to the facilitator, who will pass them to the speakers as time allows.

Food for this free event is catered by El Parasol Restaurant, and the organizers say the roundtable is intended to be an accessible forum for residents to hear directly from health-care leaders. Local attendees will likely bring concerns shaped by recent regional developments. The Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service announced it will close its doors on Feb. 20, a change that could intensify pressure on nearby clinics and hospitals and underscore the topics slated for discussion.

The roundtable arrives amid broader policy movement in Santa Fe. State actions this month included bills addressing interstate practice compacts for doctors and social workers and a sizeable bonding package for infrastructure. Advocates and health-care groups have also highlighted the fragility of rural health systems. As Gail Stamler, a certified nurse midwife, observed in a recent op-ed reproduced by health advocates, "Since 2002, 192 hospitals in rural America have closed their doors due to unstable reimbursements, threatening the very fabric of health care in these communities."

For Los Alamos County residents, the panel offers a chance to hear how those national and state trends translate locally and to raise specific questions about services, emergency care, and coverage. Organizers have not published a full sponsor list or a facilitator name in advance; attendees should expect an in-person, question-driven format and an opportunity to follow local developments after the forum. The conversation may help clarify how policy shifts and local service changes will affect access to care on the ground and what actions residents and leaders can pursue next.