SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By NM Human Services Department
New Mexico State Senate unanimously confirmed David R. Scrase, M.D. as Secretary of the Human Services Department.
“Dr. Scrase is an effective leader, and knows all facets of the Human Services Department, especially the Medicaid program and I am honored to carry his nomination,” said Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino during today’s Senate confirmation. “The Governor has made a terrific nomination in Dr. Scrase to head the Human Services Department.”
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Secretary Scrase December 15, 2018. “Secretary Scrase is showing incredible leadership at the Human Services Department, and I know he will continue to make a difference in the lives of New Mexicans with his decades of experience as a physician, administrator, policy maker, and proven leader, “said Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
“I am honored by today’s Senate confirmation and will remind myself daily of their confidence in me to lead the Department that serves nearly half of New Mexico’s population with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love,” said Secretary David Scrase, M.D.
The Human Services Department serves more than 800,000 New Mexicans through several programs including the; Medicaid Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Child Support Program, and several Behavioral Health Services.
Secretary Scrase most recently served as a Professor of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. He is Board Certified Internist and Geriatrician, and previously served as the Interim Division Chief for General Internal Medicine and the Chief of Geriatrics at UNM. He has held a variety of administrative positions through the years, including nine years in medical education, as well as numerous healthcare executive positions in Michigan and New Mexico. He has worked closely with the New Mexico Medicaid program for the past three years, leading a successful effort to enhance the treatment of Hepatitis C for Medicaid members. He currently leads an effort to improve quality and reduce hospital readmissions in all New Mexico nursing facilities. Despite his long administrative career, his first love and understood calling is as a primary care physician, and he has continuously cared for patients for over 30 years, despite concurrent service in administrative roles. He will continue to see patients in his new role as Secretary of the Human Services Department.
