The MolinaCares Accord Honors Santa Fe Indian School Students Focused on Healthcare Careers
Caroline Zubieta, CarolineJ.Zubieta@MolinaHealthCare.com, 562-951-1588
Santa Fe, NM – June 27, 2023 – The MolinaCares Accord (“MolinaCares”), in collaboration with Molina Healthcare of New Mexico (“Molina”) and the New Mexico Caregivers Coalition, recognized 19 students from the Santa Fe Indian School’s Health Careers Program with $1,000 scholarships supporting their future education. The students completed a semester-long internship program with community organizations, including the New Mexico Caregivers Coalition, the Alzheimer’s Association of New Mexico, Birthing Tree, Many Mothers, the Villa Therese Catholic Clinic, Jicarilla Apache Tribe Community Health Representative Program, Santo Domingo Community Health Representative Program, and Ohkay Owingeh Community Health Representative Program.
This partnership is part of Molina’s overall commitment to increasing access to care across the state. Currently, the state of New Mexico is experiencing a health care worker shortage, with data from the New Mexico Health and Human Services Legislative Committee showing a need for more than 10,000 health care workers to meet the current needs of New Mexicans.
“With significant gaps in access to care—especially in rural and tribal areas of our state—patients are left with long wait times and lengthy distances to travel,” said Carolyn Ingram, plan president for Molina Healthcare of New Mexico. “These barriers to quality health care services prevent many New Mexicans from getting the care they need to thrive. We applaud these students for seeking careers in health care to serve their home areas and bridge the gap to create equitable access to care across our state.”
Speaking to her future plans, scholarship recipient Eliana Bailon of Santo Domingo Pueblo hopes to inspire “many more Native American women to join the health care team,” and sought a career in health care due to her desire to “maintain community members’ health, especially elders and children.” She plans to become a phlebotomist and go to school for Naprapathy, with hopes to extend services to Indian Health Services.
Additionally, scholarship recipient Taven Vallo of Acoma Pueblo wants to help those in need of medical services and provide health care to those who aren’t receiving benefits. Vallo plans to attend Bates College and major in Biochemistry.
“We congratulate all of these hardworking students and wish them the best in their future endeavors, as we all work together to improve health care services in New Mexico,” added Ingram.
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About The MolinaCares Accord
Established by Molina Healthcare, Inc., The MolinaCares Accord oversees a community investment platform created to improve the health and well-being of disadvantaged populations by funding meaningful, measurable, and innovative programs and solutions that improve health, life, and living in local communities. The MolinaCares Accord funds such measures through The Molina Healthcare Charitable Foundation, a 501(c)(3) established in 2020 by Molina Healthcare, Inc.
About Molina Healthcare
Molina Healthcare, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company (currently ranked 125), provides managed healthcare services under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. Molina Healthcare served approximately 5.3 million members as of March 31, 2023, located across 19 states. For more information about Molina Healthcare, please visit molinahealthcare.com.
