Grants help New Mexico community organizations maximize reach

UnitedHealthcare has awarded more than $150,000 in community grants to three local organizations. These grants allow the organizations to provide for the critical needs of people across the state and improve access to high-quality care so New Mexicans can live healthier lives. The grants will support doula services, mental health resources for the Latino community and rural maternity health services.

Here is a list of the grantees and the areas they serve:

• The New Mexico Doula Association works to make doula care inclusive and accessible throughout New Mexico and addresses maternity care deserts. The Association is focused on birth-justice, cultural competence, affordability, and support for families during pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and other reproductive experiences and outcomes. They will receive $50,000 to expand access to doula care for individuals who are pregnant and whose self-reported income is in the lowest income bracket. The grant will support access to care in rural and frontier communities, and work to reduce the maternal mortality rate.
• The National Latino Behavioral Health Association provides national leadership on mental health and substance abuse concerns of people in the Latino community. They will receive $98,000 to provide training for language interpreters to support behavioral health counselors and two 8-week youth cohort groups focused on substance use prevention.
• The New Mexico Perinatal Collaborative addresses the challenges faced by expectant families and infants, especially in areas that lack maternity care. They will receive $40,000 to expand access to maternity care statewide.

Helping organizations maximize reach to underserved New Mexicans

New Mexicans face a lack of access to maternity care in rural and frontier communities. In addition, people in Latino communities experience disparity in accessing behavioral health services.^1,2

New Mexico ranks highest in the nation for births covered by Medicaid. Pregnancy-associated deaths in New Mexico are 4.6 times greater for those who are covered by Medicaid than those covered by private insurance.³ The most common causes were mental health conditions, cardiac conditions, embolism, and hemorrhage.

UnitedHealthcare serves more than 205,000 members enrolled in employer-sponsored, individual, Medicare and retirement plans in New Mexico. It has a network of 41 hospitals, and over 11,000 physicians and other care providers statewide.

These grants are designed to help address health challenges for the people of New Mexico by supporting the work of community organizations.