OPINION: Interstate compacts can expand mental health care where New Mexico needs it most

As an emergency medicine physician and health care administrator, I’ve seen how gaps in access to care ripple across our state’s health system. But nowhere are those gaps more visible, or more damaging, than in mental health care. In emergency departments across New Mexico, patients in psychological distress often wait hours or even days for appropriate placement and disposition, not because their needs are unclear, but because the right professionals simply aren’t available.

Too often, emergency departments become the default mental health safety net. Patients experiencing anxiety, depression, substance use, crises or suicidal ideation end up in hospital beds because they can’t access a psychologist, social worker or other behavioral health professionals in their community. This strains hospitals, worsens outcomes for patients and accelerates burnout among providers across the system.

There is no single solution to New Mexico’s behavioral health workforce shortage, but one step could make an immediate and meaningful difference: joining interstate licensure compacts not only for physicians, but critically, for psychologists, counselors and social workers.

Interstate licensure compacts allow licensed professionals to practice across state lines without navigating duplicative, time-consuming licensing processes in each state. For behavioral health providers, this flexibility is especially powerful. Compacts expand tele-mental health, enable rapid workforce deployment, and help rural and tribal communities connect with care that may not exist locally.

Today, 42 states, the District of Columbia and Guam participate in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, and similar compacts exist for psychologists, counselors and social workers. New Mexico’s absence limits our ability to recruit and retain behavioral health professionals and slows the expansion of tele-psychology and tele–social work services: all tools that are proven to increase access and continuity of care.

If New Mexico joined these compacts, communities could benefit from faster access to licensed psychologists, social workers supporting crisis intervention and care coordination, and integrated teams helping patients manage mental health needs before they escalate into emergencies. Hospitals and clinics could recruit professionals from compact states without delays for licensure approval.

Mental health access is foundational to the health of our communities and the stability of our health care system. When people can see a psychologist or social worker early, consistently and close to home, fewer crises spill into emergency departments, fewer families are left navigating care alone, and providers across disciplines can do the work they were trained to do.

As lawmakers consider this issue during the legislative session, The University of New Mexico stands ready to support policies that strengthen New Mexico’s behavioral health workforce and expand access to care, especially for rural and tribal communities. Those policies include House Bill 32, to bring New Mexico into the interstate compact for counselors; House Bill 33, the interstate compact for psychologists; and House Bill 50, the interstate compact for social workers. Interstate licensure compacts are not a cure-all, but they are a practical, proven tool to bring much-needed mental health care within reach for New Mexicans across the state.

Dr. Michael Richards is the executive vice president of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and CEO of UNM Health.