For more information or to get involved, contact:
Karen Armitage, MD, FAAP
KArmitage@salud.unm.edu
505-272-5377
MSC 09 5065
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Phone: (505) 272-5377
karmitage@salud.unm.edu
February 2013
Article by Tanya Covington
The University of New Mexico has established the first Health Extension Rural Office (HERO) Coordinator in Hobbs.
The Health Sciences Center is proud to announce that Evelyn Rising has been chosen for that position. Evelyn has been a resident of Hobbs for more than 25 years and is well known as a community activist. Evelyn was most recently Associate Academic Dean of the University of the Southwest as well as former Lifestyles Editor of the Hobbs Daily News-Sun. In addition, she serves on the board of MyPower, Inc.
HEROs grew out of community input and recommendations as to how the UNM Health Sciences Center (HSC) can best help communities achieve greater capacity to address their own needs and improve their measures of health. In the case of Hobbs, the local J.F. Maddox Foundation and three prominent leaders of the African American community, Patricia Grovey, BJ Choice, and Joe Cotton consulted on the selection process.
Evelyn Rising is the 28th national president of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc. She recently worked with the Lovington museum to present a program on African-Americans and churches. She is 1st Vice President of International Women in Emergency Management, and serves on the board of the Frederick Douglass Museum, housed in D.C. This year she will help in co-hosting the Harriet Tubman national holiday festivities to be held in Maryland and New York.
Rising is a member of the St. John Baptist Church. She says she enjoys being around her family, especially her mother, Johnnie M. Watkins, when time permits.
This HERO position has a dual role in working with the southeast corner of the state in general and with the African American community in particular. It starts February 18th and the office will be housed in the Hobbs Head Start Office at 950 E Snyder Street. Evelyn is excited to be in a unique position to help students and empower the Hobbs community in improving their health. We hope that the community will congratulate Evelyn and come together to support Evelyn in these efforts.
An open house and reception will be held in March to acquaint everyone in the county with the numerous health benefits available to them.
Lea County, which contains Hobbs, Jal, Lovington, and Tatum has been the focus of much Vision 2020 activity over the last year. The HSC's last leadership visit took many of our leaders to meet with the leadership in Hobbs to identify ways to support the goals and needs in the community. 
During the leadership visit to Lea County in June, Mr. Bob Reid from the J.F. Maddox Foundation briefed the group on opportunities and challenges in the community. For example, Lea County is the primary revenue producer and contributor for the NM endowment through oil and gas revenues and yet gets less than anywhere else in per capita student funding. They have the lowest unemployment rate in the state and yet 40% uninsured rate. New Mexico is one of the highest states for teenage pregnancy and Lea County is the highest in New Mexico. Behavioral health support for adolescents is a great need. There was also a request to support the foundation with a social services assessment and the HSC has responded by identifying a research team out of the Center for Rural and Community Behavioral Health for this purpose.
In two short years, Hobbs has become one of UNM HSC’s most popular training sites for HSC students and residents. For example, one student said “The Hobbs community was an extraordinarily welcoming community that made us feel right at home from day one. I have learned so much about the functioning of a small town, some of the cultural aspects of life that the citizens share, and the mutual trust that accompanies being so close to almost everyone else who lives here. Overall, being in Hobbs was a learning experience that will be difficult to top.” 
Tim Thornell, CEO and Patrick Dunn, the CNO of Lea Regional Hospital as well as David Shaw, CEO of Lovington’s Nor Lea Hospital recognize a primary care shortage as the biggest priority of the community. For, as there are only four primary care physicians for a population of 60,000. Because of this, a large focus has been to support the recruitment of health professionals in the area. For example, during the 2012/13 school year there will be 6 pharmacy students doing rotations in Lea County. Also, there are around 7 UNM pharmacy graduates practicing in the area. In addition, they have already hired two of our Physician Assistant graduates who rotate there. In addition, BA/MD students rotate in the community each summer. Three Family Medicine residents are now rotating in Hobbs under the supervision of Dr. Jerry McLaughlin, a leading obstetrician. They have felt embraced by the community who has taken them to dinners other community events. One resident said, “It is great to be in a place where they really want you!”
The HSC will continue to work with Lea Regional and Nor Lea Hospital to bring students into the area.
