Area Health Education Center welcomes new staff
Wednesday, October 26, 2020; Las Cruces, NM: New Mexico’s Southern Health Education Center (SoAHEC) is pleased to welcome MariaAnna Molina to their team which brings health continuing education and training opportunities to health professionals in 13 counties throughout the southern half of the state.
“We are so eager to have her on board. MariaAnna has been a translator contractor with CHI over the past couple of years and has helped our program tremendously,” said Director of SoAHEC Eugenia “Gena” Trujillo. “She is fluent in Spanish and has had a great impact in our communities. Her passion to work closely with community members, is going to be a great asset to our program!”
As a lifelong New Mexican, Molina has resided in the region she now serves with SoAHEC, and her fluency in Spanish has already aided the program. Last year, Molina translated for trainings on suicide prevention, HIV/AIDS and Lupus awareness for community health workers offered in conjunction with Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM) with a grant from the national Network of Libraries of Medicine.
“There are many Spanish-speakers in the region. I really enjoyed talking to people about their experiences as community health workers,” said Molina of her experience with SoAHEC, which prompted to apply when a position opened.
A graduate of Las Cruces High School, Molina received her bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University in Family and Consumer Science with a focus on fashion and merchandizing. Her natural flare for style parlays well to the participants at SoAHEC trainings, who have commented on her charm and natural ease with bilingual groups.
“I want to have a positive impact on my community and educate other people,” added Molina, which she is sure to have while she organizes the continuing Lupus Awareness trainings which are now offered virtually due to the COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.
“With the virtual trainings, we are seeing more people from throughout the state participate,” said Molina. “I’m looking forward to learning and helping SoAHEC grow to get more programs under our belt and offer more topics and trainings.”
SoAHEC serves a region as large as Washington state, which includes the combined area of Chaves, Cibola, Doña Ana, De Baca, Eddy, Lea, Lincoln, Otero, Roosevelt, Sierra, Socorro, Torrance, and Valencia counties. The option of virtual trainings brings continuing education, like the Lupus Awareness training, to the most rural corners of the region and saves community health workers travel time and money to keep their credentials up-to-date.
“Right now, we are settling into our new offices, but I’m hoping once the quarantine is over, I’ll be able to meet new people and make connections to students at health career fairs,” said Molina.
The next Lupus Awareness Trainings are scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 11, in Spanish and Thursday, Nov. 12, in English. The trainings are available at no cost and offer continuing education credits to community health workers or promotoras. All virtual trainings for SoAHEC are listed at bit.ly/37Lx0qr. Participation is limited in the virtual trainings so register today.
SoAHEC is a program of the Center for Health Innovation, New Mexico’s Public Health Institute.
For more information contact Molina at (575) 597-0349 or mmolina@chi-phi.org or visit: chi-phi.org.
