HMS is proud to announce that Neal A. Bowen, Ph.D., will be the new director of the Behavioral Health Services Division. This significant honor is based on Dr. Bowen’s over 22 years of service in the behavioral health profession and his accomplishments in patient care, program development, and facilitation.
Dr. Bowen came to Hidalgo Medical Services in 2005 where at that time HMS only had one part-time social worker. Recognizing the significant need for quality mental health care services in Hidalgo County and later in Grant County in 2008, Dr. Bowen helped to grow the HMS Behavioral Health Division to 25 current providers and an additional 11 support team members.
HMS, with Dr. Bowen’s leadership, was able to answer the needs of the communities when Border Area Mental Health was defunded in 2013 and after La Fronteria left in the summer of 2015. This doubled the size of behavioral health services offered by HMS. In addition to the core mental health HMS services offered, HMS soon thereafter expanded services to providing comprehensive community support services (CCSS) and Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR). This past year HMS addressed additional needs of rural New Mexicans through the establishment of Bridges to Care, Coordinated Care Services, and Tu Casa. Through HMS’s Mental Health Department in 2018, more than 1900 different individuals were served with over 17,500 different visits.
Dr. Bowen was recognized by the New Mexico Primary Care Association as Behavioral Health Provider of the Year in 2011. Dr. Bowen shares, “I am proud to take the experience of systems of care at HMS and to help build a larger system of care for the state. This is a very humbling opportunity that I feel well prepared for because of my many wonderful years with HMS. A guiding thought I have always held is the belief in collaboration, especially true in rural communities. In under resourced rural and frontier communities, working not to compete, but rather to collaborate with each other to deliver the needed services is always what is most important and successful model to build.”
Dan Otero, CEO of HMS, stated, “HMS will miss Dr. Bowen, but is confident in Dr. Bowen’s work to truly make a difference for the residents of the State of New Mexico in his new appointed position by the Governor. This is a true honor not only for Dr. Bowen, but also for our area, as we continue to have a part in the leadership and design of health care initiatives and practices in the region, state, and country.”