The Department of Veterans Affairs announced the appointment of Andrew Welch as the new Director of the New Mexico VA Health Care System (NMVAHCS). Welch will be responsible for the overall management of a tertiary medical care facility in Albuquerque, and eleven Community Based Outpatient Clinics that provide primary care and mental health services to Veterans throughout New Mexico and southern Colorado. He will oversee a budget of some $448 million.
“Andy will bring valuable experience and leadership to the New Mexico VAHCS,” said Lisa Freeman, Acting Director for the VA Southwest Healthcare Network (VISN 18). “He has a wealth of experience, having led the Amarillo VAHCS for the last six years.”
Mr. Welch began his VA career in 1987 as a dietitian at the Audie L. Murphy VA Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. In 1990, he moved to the Kerrville VA Medical Center as an Administrative Dietitian and, in 1993, was promoted to Chief, Nutrition and Food Service.
Most recently, he served as the Director of the Amarillo VAHCS in which he was responsible for the delivery of health care to Veterans living in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, eastern New Mexico and southern Kansas. The health care system maintains 44 acute care inpatient beds and a 120-bed skilled nursing home care unit. The health care system also ensures health care is accessible to those Veterans residing in rural areas through four community-based outpatient clinics located in Childress, Lubbock, Dalhart, TX and Clovis, NM
Mr. Welch received a Master’s Degree in Food Science and Technology from Texas A&M University in 1988 and a Master’s Degree in Health Administration from Baylor University in 2001. He is a board certified health care executive and a Fellow in the American College of Health Care Executives.
The New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System serves Veterans in New Mexico, southern Colorado, and west Texas. The Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque is a Joint Commission accredited, VHA complexity level 1a, tertiary care referral center with a 24-hour Emergency Room. VA staffed Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) are located in: Artesia, Farmington, Gallup, Silver City, Raton, Santa Fe, and Rio Rancho (Northwest Metro) with Contract CBOCs in Alamogordo, Truth or Consequences, Espanola, Las Vegas, Taos, and Durango, Colorado.
Information from VA