Think New Mexico

A growing coalition of organizations from across the political spectrum supports New Mexico joining the interstate compacts for health care workers.

Joining these interstate compacts was one of the top reforms recommended by the nonpartisan think tank Think New Mexico in its 2024 report, How to Solve New Mexico’s Health Care Worker Shortage.

Interstate health care worker compacts are agreements among states to recognize and accept professional licenses issued by the other states participating in the compact.

Similar to the way that a person can hold a driver’s license from one state and legally drive in another, states that participate in an interstate compacts agree to recognize licenses issued to health care professionals by other states. Without these agreements, doctors and other health care workers licensed in other states cannot legally provide services in New Mexico – even via telehealth – unless they go through New Mexico’s lengthy licensing process.

States that join the doctor compact experience an increase of 10-15% in the number of doctors licensed every year, according to the New Mexico Medical Board. Forty-three states and D.C. participate in the interstate compact for physicians, including all five states that border New Mexico.

A growing majority of states also participate in compacts for psychologists, counselors, physical therapists, audiologists and speech therapists, physician assistants, dentists, and emergency medical personnel – all fields where New Mexico has shortages.

New Mexico is one of just four states that participates in one or no compacts. Meanwhile Colorado has joined all ten compacts; Utah is in nine; Oklahoma is in eight; Arizona is in seven; and even Texas is in five. During the 2025 regular legislative session, the House unanimously passed seven health care worker compacts, and Governor Lujan Grisham expressed her support for them.

Senate Republicans also endorsed joining the compacts. However, during the 2025 session the Senate Judiciary Committee killed six of the seven compact bills without a hearing, and killed the doctor compact by making 32 amendments. (Because compacts are agreements among states, all states must agree to the same terms in order to join the compact.)

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth pledged to consider the compacts for doctors and social workers during the 2026 session. However, there was no commitment to pass the other eight compacts, even though New Mexico has shortages across all those health professions.

For example, in order to meet national benchmarks, New Mexico needs 2,510 more EMTs, 526 more physical therapists, 281 more physician assistants, and 114 more occupational therapists, among other professions.

The state’s behavioral health care system has been in crisis for over a decade, with severe shortages of psychologists and counselors. The coalition of groups supporting the interstate health care worker compacts spans the political spectrum, including representatives of business, like the NM Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, as well as labor unions AFSCME and the AFT. It ranges from progressive.

Indivisible chapters to the Coalition of Conservatives in Action. The doctor compact is supported by both the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains.

“Joining the interstate health care worker compacts unites New Mexicans all across the political spectrum,” said Fred Nathan, Jr., Executive Director of Think New Mexico. For more information, visit Think New Mexico’s website at: www.thinknewmexico.org.

Adrian Hedden
Artesia Daily Press

Roads used to transport nuclear waste throughout New Mexico could be maintained using $20 million in federal funds.

The appropriation was included in the Senate Appropriations Committee version of the Energy and Water Development Act of 2026, published Nov. 25 by the committee. The bill funds water and energy projects at several federal agencies for fiscal year 2026, which runs from Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version, without the New Mexico road money, on Sept. 4 on a 214-213 vote. The Senate has yet to vote on its own rewrite.

The funds, if ultimately approved, would provide $20 million a year to maintain highways in New Mexico used to transport nuclear waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant from federal facilities around the country.

The federally approved routes are also used to send empty trucks from the WIPP site, about 30 miles east of Carlsbad, to its generator sites where the waste is packaged and loaded for transport to the disposal site.

At WIPP, the Energy Department disposes of transuranic nuclear waste (TRU), which is clothing materials, equipment and other debris irradiated during nuclear activities.

The waste is buried at WIPP in a salt deposit about 2,000 feet underground. The salt gradually collapses on the waste, burying the refuse and blocking radiation from escaping.

But to get the waste to the WIPP site, the department sends trucks along its approved routes into New Mexico on east-west Interstate 40 and north-south Interstate 25.

U.S. Highway 285 connects to the interstates at a junction near Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico, heading southeast toward Carlsbad. Another, shorter section of U.S. Highway 128 can carry waste to the WIPP site west from New Mexico’s southeast border with Texas.

Under the Senate version of the appropriations bill, those four roads could be maintained using the funds via projects agreed to by the state of New Mexico and Department of Energy.

A report filed by the Senate Appropriations committee with its version of the bill explained the federal government provided the money for the roads to New Mexico for fiscal years 1999 to 2012 under the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act.

The funds were cut off at the end of the 14-year period and were not extended, read the report.

Meanwhile, the committee noted, 59% of WIPP roads were rated in “fair” or lower condition by the Department of Energy in a 2023 report, with 21% of the roads receiving a “poor” grade

“The Committee continues to recognize the importance of well-maintained roadways throughout approved transportation routes for promoting public safety and safe transportation of transuranic waste to the WIPP,” the report read. “The deteriorated roadway conditions near WIPP pose a safety risk to both WIPP staff and transuranic [TRU] shipments.”

Carlsbad Mayor Pro Tem JJ Chavez said local leaders lobbied Congress “for years” to resume the road funding. He said that in the past the funds were appropriated annually and that he hopes the 2026 appropriation will be similarly extended.

“The shipments still pass through those roads, and we still need the money,” Chavez said. “This makes the roads safer not only for WIPP, but for the entire state of New Mexico. Everybody benefits from this.”

Chavez also works as a Mine Safety Health Administration compliance manager at WIPP, and serves as vice chair of the Energy Communities Alliance, a national group of local officials from communities that host Department of Energy projects such as national laboratories and other facilities.

Chavez said supporting WIPP’s roads was crucial to maintaining safe disposal of nuclear waste, to the benefit of all federal nuclear facilities in the U.S., namely Los Alamos National Laboratory.

New Mexico officials recently pressured the federal government to clean up nuclear waste at Los Alamos left over from the Cold War, adding a clause to WIPP’s 10-year state operations permit renewed in 2023 to prioritize such waste. This came as the lab was being prepared to increase the production of plutonium pits – triggers of atomic warheads – in a national effort to modernize the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

“It helps us get the waste off Los Alamos,” Chavez said. “As soon as they (Los Alamos) call with waste ready, we respond. This ensures that those roads are safe.”

Jack Volpato, who chairs the Carlsbad Mayor’s Nuclear Task Force and has for several years lobbied for the needs of WIPP in state and federal government, said a crucial part of the funding language prohibits state officials from sweeping the money for other needs.

He estimated it costs about $1 million a mile to repave the roads, meaning more will be needed than the single appropriation for FY 2026.

“It’s a caveat that the state of New Mexico can’t move it anywhere else,” Volpato said of the funding. “I’m hoping we can get a recurring authorization. It will help us make sure the roads are safe and properly maintained.”

Volpato further argued the funding would serve a dual purpose in New Mexico’s southeast corner, where highways are heavily trafficked by the booming oil and gas industry.

“It’s good for the local community, good for the state of New Mexico and good for the WIPP site,” Volpato said. “Those roads really get a pounding.”

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Sarah Rubinstein
Artesia Daily Press

Step back in time with inn’s 1975 menu

Mark Chino has fond memories of a steak dinner at The Inn of the Mountain Gods in 1975. He did it again Tuesday night – another New York Strip sirloin steak at Wendell’s restaurant, another $9.75 tab.

Chino, 71, was one of 400 diners who helped the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino close out a yearlong celebration of its 50th year in business with a 1975-priced meal.

He has a special connection to Wendell’s Steak & Seafood, originally known as Dan Li Kå Dining Room but renamed 20 years ago in honor of Chino’s father Wendell Chino.

Wendell Chino was a longtime leader of the Mescalaro nation, and led development of the eesort and casino, which is owned and operated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe.

The Resort and Casino’s chief operating officer, 43-year-old Frizzell J. Frizzell Jr., said he conceived the 1975 retrospective as an ideal way to commemorate the resort’s half century of success.

To get the idea off the ground, he tracked down the long-abandoned 1975 Wendell’s Steak and Seafood menu on eBay – and shelled out $80 to buy it.

“This whole year what we’ve done on the second Tuesday of every month, we serve the original 1975 menu at the 1975 prices as an appreciation to our guests for coming 50 years and supporting Inn of the Mountain Gods,” he said. “So, people are literally getting $400 meals for $75.”

The steak that cost $9.75 in 1975 is called a New York Striploin on Wendell’s current menu and sells for $65. A side of broccoli cost $1.25 in 1975 and now goes for $12. An appetizer of a dozen oysters was priced at $6 in 1975. Today’s price: $78.

When Executive Chef Brendan Gochenour heard Frizzell’s idea for a 50-year menu price rollback, he said he considered it his duty “as steward of this place” to challenge the plan.

Frizzell’s response, according to Gochenour: “I want to give back to the community for supporting us these past 50 years. It’s a way to honor our heritage and the start of all of this.”

Gochenour watched as the unique celebration sparked a buzz throughout the community. When the specially priced servings were launched last January, reservations started pouring in and were completely booked until October. On Dec. 9, the final night of the promotion, Wendell’s had 402 reservations.

Ruidoso native Gochenour, 56, calls the original menu “a culinary time capsule” that brought back classic French “comfort food,” dishes he was trained on in the 1980s.

The biggest challenge he faced, Gochenour said, was working with older recipes. One offering, pickled herring, was impossible to find, so he decided to create it in-house. His favorite dish to cook, he said, was the Sweet and Sour Shrimp Oriental Style.

Angel Saiza, who worked as a dinner cook at Wendell’s from 1975 to 1978, remembers cooking this exact menu. Saiza learned the trade under John Fyre, who was executive chef at the time.

“He taught us all of the names of food that we never experienced before,” he said.

Former tribe president Gabe Aguilar, 49, who has enjoyed the 1975 dinner special three or four times this year, said he and his family have many special memories related to Wendell’s restaurant.

“When we were kids, we were waiters. All the kids we grew up with were serving, bussing in there,” he said.

More than just a good deal for guests, the unique menu offering allowed the Apache tribe to celebrate how far the resort has come. The resort originally had 134 rooms and now accommodates around 273 guests.

“Where in the United States or in the world are you going to get a pound of king crab legs for $11.50 right now?” asked Alan Kirgan, the resort’s food and beverage director for the past 16 years.

Kirgan, 56, said he’s proud of bringing the Apache culture to everything at the resort, including the serving of Native American beef.

“We try to represent Mescalero in quite a few of our dishes,” Kirgan said. “We try to bring that rustic and homey feeling.”

The resort employs about 70% of the tribe, Kirgan said. It is the second largest employer in Otero County, following Holloman Air Force Base. He said the anniversary signals 50 successful years of strengthening the tribe’s economy while preserving its cultural heritage.

“It’s a symbol of pride for our Mescalero people, our tribal members, because it was really the first major economic project that the tribe undertook in the tribe’s history and it started many people on their way to financial independence,” Chino said.

Staff reports

Southeast New Mexico College and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology signed an articulation agreement that expands academic opportunities for students across New Mexico.

The partnership creates a transfer pathway for SENMC graduates to continue their education toward four-year bachelor’s degrees at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.

Located in Socorro and founded in 1889, New Mexico Tech specializes in coursework and degree programs focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines, offering bachelor’s degrees along with masters and doctoral programs.

At the signing ceremony Wednesday, Oct. 8 held at the SENMC campus, Title III Transfer Pathway & Outreach Coordinator Saul Navarrete and STEM Program Manager Erick Dominguez welcomed New Mexico Tech representatives, faculty and community members, calling the moment “a celebration of partnership, progress, and pride for our great state of New Mexico.”

“Today, we’re not just signing an agreement; we’re signing a promise,” Navarrete said. “A promise that students from Carlsbad and beyond will have new doors opened to them, new pathways to innovation, and new opportunities to dream big. When New Mexico works together, amazing things happen.”

New Mexico Tech Interim President Dr. Michael Jackson said the agreement meant students from Southeast New Mexico College would be better prepared for coursework at New Mexico Tech, and be able to transfer credits toward their degrees.

“We are excited to collaborate with SENMC to assist with preparing individuals for the STEM workforce by providing defined pathways to both undergraduate and graduate degree programs,” he said.

The agreement ensures that qualified SENMC graduates who have earned applicable associate degrees can transfer their credits directly into New Mexico Tech undergraduate programs, minimizing duplication of coursework.

Students transferring under this agreement will receive full credit for courses completed with a grade of C- or higher, provided they align with New Mexico Tech’s degree requirements.

The partnership also allows for reverse transfer; meaning SENMC students who transfer to New Mexico Tech before completing their associate degree can apply their credits back to SENMC to earn their associate credential.

New Mexico Tech will also offer enrollment counseling, academic advising and opportunities for SENMC transfer students to engage in internships, research and work-study programs.

“This partnership with New Mexico Tech provides a pathway for our students to attend a top-ranked STEM university. I believe our students will feel right at home there and find a world of opportunity,” said Dr. Kevin Beardmore, president at SENMC.

He said the partnership represents a shared vision to strengthen the state’s educational ecosystem.

Jackso said New Mexico Tech’s programs could be useful to students seeking jobs in the Carlsbad area, in fields such as oil and gas and mining.

“Along with some of our well-known degrees such as biology, chemistry, and electrical engineering, students have the opportunity to pursue materials engineering, petroleum engineering, and mineral engineering – all critical areas to advancing New Mexico’s energy portfolio and our state’s demand for a talented and qualified STEM workforce, Jackson said.