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For 20 years now, the Care Van^® program has traveled across New Mexico working with local organizations and provider partners to offer convenient access to preventive care and help people understand and manage their health.  

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico program since its inception in 2006 has facilitated more than 111,000 services across upward of 1,700 events in rural, underserved and tribal communities, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.

One of the many New Mexicans the Care Van program has helped is Jacob Rodriguez. In 2023, Rodriguez stepped into a Care Van at a local event in Roswell out of curiosity and took an A1c test. He was shocked when the medical staff in the Care Van urged him to meet with his primary care provider to discuss his results.  

Rodriguez was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and prescribed medications to help him manage his condition.

“The Care Van played a crucial part in making sure I was okay,” Rodriguez says. “Thanks to their team, I caught it early and learned how to manage my condition.”

Early years

The Care Van program launched in 2006 on the heels of then-governor Bill Richardson announcing a desire to increase childhood immunization uptake across the state.

The small team soon partnered with the New Mexico Department of Public Health and traveled to schools, baseball games, churches, and other areas in northern New Mexico to establish relationships with communities and help administer childhood immunizations and health education.

“At that time, we didn’t have mobile units, and this was a great way to meet communities where they were at,” says Heather Black, chief nurse of the Public Health Division at the New Mexico Department of Public Health.

In the year after launching, the program helped administer more than 2,300 childhood vaccines.

“It really catapulted mobile events into the public eye and promoted access,” says Black, who traveled with the Care Van for years. “The program has been a good partner for ensuring access for New Mexico communities.”

Expanding access

Building off early success, the program expanded its service offerings in 2010 to include blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol screenings and established partnerships with additional local nonprofits to provide routine basic vision and dental services, among other health-related offerings.

A partnership with the nonprofit Southern New Mexico Diabetes Outreach, for example, offers diabetes screenings in rural locations to identify undiagnosed cases and help facilitate early intervention and treatment. This proactive approach is vital since an estimated 13% of adults in New Mexico have diabetes and many don't know about their condition until complications arise. 

“New Mexico is facing an access to care issue, and our goal is always to increase provider partners across the state to reach more people, particularly for diabetes care,” says Amy Fisher, BCBSNM community relations manager who oversees the Care Van program.

A new partnership with Villa Therese Catholic Clinic will leverage the mobile space of Care Vans to help the Santa Fe-based clinic’s seven medical staffers provide vision, dental and wellness screenings to all 33 counties in New Mexico.

As more events and regions of New Mexico requested Care Van support, the program added a second vehicle to its fleet in 2018.

The additional mobile unit has helped deliver resources in times of crisis, including helping administer health screenings for those affected by the Ruidoso wildfires and delivering supplies during the pandemic to some of the state’s most remote Native American communities, which had been disproportionately affected by the virus.

Today, the Care Vans have been to every county in the state and now partner with upwards of 53 organizations.

Last year alone, the Care Van team served more than 12,700 clients and helped facilitate more than 10,800 health services, including immunizations, across 180 events.

Community fixture

Ever since Jacob Rodriguez visited the Care Van in 2023 and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, he and his family have worked with the program to make sure others can receive the same no-cost care he has.

A Care Van parks at the family’s yearly 5K run/walk in Roswell’s Cahoon Park to raise awareness of heart disease and honor Rodriguez’s father-in-law David Gonzalez, who passed away from a heart attack in 2019. Throughout the day, the Care Van provider partners facilitate no-cost screenings and educate attendees about their health, particularly the importance of cardiac care.

“The Care Vans are very important, and they’ve obviously helped me,” Rodriguez says. “We want others to know how important heart health is, and a key part of the walk is to have people check their blood pressure and anything else that might lead to heart disease before it becomes a major issue.”

These efforts reinforce the program’s role as more than a mobile clinic. It has become a trusted, reliable presence when communities need it most.

Looking ahead to the next 20 years, the Care Van program, remains committed to providing no-cost health services, screenings and resources to New Mexicans where they live while reducing health care costs for families, especially in underserved communities in New Mexico

“We are incredibly proud of the partnerships we’ve built and the lives we’ve touched through the Care Van program, like Jacob Rodriguez, whose story reminds us of the real impact of early detection and preventive care,” says BCBSNM President Janice Torrez. “As we celebrate 20 years, our mission remains the same: to ensure every New Mexican can access essential health services, regardless of where they live or their ability to pay. We look forward to continuing this journey, expanding our reach and supporting the health and well-being of our communities for many years to come.”