Andrew Hsi entered the UNMH nursery in 1987 realizing there were many unmet needs of newborns and new parents. Meeting those needs required close collaboration with nursey nurses to develop protocols for encouraging breast feeding, universal hearing testing, immunizing newborns at birth for hepatitis B, screening babies for jaundice, championing the “back to sleep” model for SIDS prevention, and providing quick follow up clinics for released newborns and weekly clinics for high risk babies. Many colleagues to this day use the nerve block procedure for circumcision anesthesia. His nursery experiences informed the pediatric portion of MILAGRO (prenatal care and substance use treatment for women with substance use disorders, 1989), followed by FOCUS (wraparound care for infants and caregivers affected by substance use and prenatal drug exposures, 1990), and ADOBE (supporting youth returning from incarceration and their families, 2017). These programs collaboratively developed over 37 years at UNM with an amazing crew of practitioners from Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Child Psychiatry, UNM Law School, Nursing, and home-based services to form wrap-around care. The ADOBE Program embraced the heart of what mattered most to Andrew. He understood that no one heals alone. Supporting youth returning from incarceration and their families, advocates work with teenagers keeping them on track to make appointments and care because teenagers are more likely to follow through when services are also extended to their moms to care for their medical, social or legal help.

The most difficult parts for building and implementing these programs were writing grants all night, convincing providers to collaborate, and solving Medicaid billing to cover costs.

What’s kept him going? A stubborn belief in trust, persistence, and the quiet power of showing up. He’s most proud of the people: the colleagues who stayed, the families who kept trying, and the kids who made it—sometimes with relapses and broken care–– because someone on the teams kept the doors and phone lines open for them with a lot of grace.

Now retired, Andrew still roots for New Mexico’s families— ideally with fewer meetings and more laughter.