At The University of New Mexico, we believe every New Mexican, regardless of income or where they reside, should have access to the health care they need and deserve.
From Albuquerque to Las Cruces, Roswell to Gallup, and all points between, UNM is dedicated to providing health care to all New Mexicans across the state. We are proud to be the state’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, home to a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Cente as well as a dedicated children’s hospital, to name just a few of the countless programs, services, and initiatives we offer for improving health care for our communities statewide. When New Mexicans need extensive or highly specialized care, UNM’s caring, compassionate, and highly-qualified health care providers are here to help. This responsibility to our community is our privilege, as well as a promise to be a part of everyone’s health care journey.
As New Mexico evolves and grows, we must take decisive action to ensure we meet the health care demands of our state today, while planning for the needs of tomorrow. At this time, the most critical component for our future growth is the new UNM School of Medicine building, slated to begin construction in 2027. This new building will appropriately equip the University of New Mexico’s Health Sciences Center to train new generations of physicians and other health care professionals to provide the best and most cutting-edge care for all of New Mexico. We are eagerly anticipating the completion of this facility, whose full plan can be viewed here.
Estimated Total Cost: $600,000,000
During the 2025 New Mexico Legislative Session, UNM requested funding to plan and design a new facility that will allow for this much-needed growth. In 2026, UNM will work to secure funding for the facility through public sources and private philanthropy, with construction anticipated to begin by 2027. With its state-of-the-art spaces for training, learning, and research, this new facility ensures the School of Medicine is invested in student success and the support services necessary to increase retention rates and provide every medical student with the tools they need to successfully navigate the rigors of a top-tier medical education.
To grow and meet the health needs of our population, we are left with no choice but to build a new facility to house the UNM School of Medicine and make this our top priority.
Replacing the sixty-year-old School of Medicine will allow UNM HSC to grow graduating classes within its program areas, increasing the number of trained health care workers available to take critically important jobs across our state. With these growing classes also comes the need for more faculty, staff, and programs to support them. In the last few years, HSC has worked diligently to expand its clinical delivery infrastructure by adding more clinical spaces, more beds, and more places to treat patients. That growth gives UNM a new and greater opportunity to grow its health sciences educational programs. However, the current physical infrastructure of the School of Medicine is a very real barrier to achieving these goals.
Some key considerations to support the building of a new School of Medicine:
32 of 33 NM counties are designated “health professionals shortage areas.”
NM’s population is aging, increasing the demand for health care.
UNM Health expanded clinical delivery capacity in the last several years.
Current UNM School of Medicine infrastructure does not allow for academic/ research expansion.
New facility is required to meet NM’s health care workforce demands.
New facility estimated costs: $37m for planning/design, $600m for construction.
New Mexicans directly benefit from UNM’s ability to increase the number of health professionals entering the workforce.
New facility would allow UNM to double MD graduates in 10 years and grow all Health Professions Programs.
UNM is uniquely positioned to meet our state’s health care demands, ensuring there are enough health care professionals to treat New Mexicans without long waits for appointments or long drives to receive care. We are taking bold steps to create much-needed growth by expanding and modernizing our health sciences buildings, including the remodeling currently underway at our nationally-ranked College of Pharmacy. We have also opened new facilities, such as our College of Nursing and Public Health Excellence building, providing new and exciting programs to train highly-qualified and much-needed health care providers. A new School of Medicine will serve as the hub of UNM’s medical education, providing training across our medical campus for even more students and providing New Mexico with the health care workforce of the future, dedicated to delivering quality care to all New Mexicans.
The health care worker gap, already a challenge in our state, has been further exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. If UNM does not take action now, the gap in needed health care professionals to administer health care in our state is expected to widen further, putting the health of all of our citizens in jeopardy
The time to narrow this gap is now. Without comprehensive, strategic growth and critical public investments, New Mexicans’ ability to access the care they need will only worsen. To increase equity in health care delivery for all New Mexicans, no matter where they live, UNM must grow the number of health professional graduates, push innovation through research, continue to create more clinical delivery access points, and create the spaces needed to accommodate this accelerated growth.
An investment in health sciences education is a direct investment in the health of every single New Mexican. Families need access to care—and waiting months to see a provider is unreasonable and unsustainable.
UNM is dedicated to educating health care providers from and for every corner of our state. The result is improved health care outcomes, health equity, and better lives for New Mexicans of all walks of life.
The UNM School of Medicine leads the nation in family medicine and rural health training. Our graduates account for nearly 40% of New Mexico’s practicing physicians. We are home to a nationally ranked research enterprise and Biomedical Science Graduate Programs with world-class scientific investigators and scholars who deliver life-saving results for humanity. Learn more about the UNM School of Medicine.