NMHE 2016 Scholarship Awardees

We are pleased to announce the 2016 scholarship awardees.  Each award winner will receive $500 to assist with the costs of going to ACHE Congress in Chicago this year. Please congratulate these recipients when you next see them!

 1) Kayla Hammond

2) Meredith Root Bowman

3) Mike Wallace

 Below are bios of each of the recipients to learn a little bit more about them and their activities in New Mexico.

 Kayla Hammond

Kayla Hammond is in her final semester of the UNM Health Administration program. Her studies have focused primarily on hospital and clinic administration, and her research interests are in global health management and disaster preparedness. Kayla is currently serving as the 2015-2016 president of the Student Association of Health Administrators, and holds the student position on the board of NMHE.

 Kayla works as a Senior Sponsored Projects Specialist for the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, where she supports several HSC departments in securing extramural funding for research and public service. She is also a member of their departmental training team and enjoys keeping personnel up to date on the latest regulations and requirements of their office.

 Meredith Root-Bowman

Meredith Root-Bowman is finishing her third and final year of a dual degree graduate program in Public Health and Public Administration.  As a full time student she has been active as an officer in the Public Health Student Association (PHSA) and as a participant in the Student Association of Healthcare Administrators (SAHA) as well as student member of the NMPHA, ACHE, and NMHE.  She is a volunteer member of the NM House Memorial 2 (2015) Paid Leave Working Group, a policy development group sponsored by the Women's Law Center.  She is also a volunteer community council member for Fierce Pride, a local non-profit working to improve LGBTQ health in NM. She is primarily interested in population health management as a tool for high value healthcare service delivery.

 Michael Wallace

Michael is the Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Affairs for Delta Dental of New Mexico. His responsibilities include leading the Sales and Account Management department to meet overall sales and retention goals; serving as liaison to legislators, regulators, and other government officials; initiating and managing business development projects; directing company advertising and external communications; and contributing to strategic planning and budgeting as part of the Delta Dental leadership team. 

 Michael chairs the New Mexico Association of Commerce and Industry (ACI) Health Care Committee; is the Vice President of the UNM Student Association of Health Administrators; and serves on the Delta Dental Plans Association State Advocacy Group, Renaissance Government Relations Team, National Association of Dental Plans State Exchange Workgroup, New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange Stakeholder Committee, and Board of the New Mexico Philharmonic. Michael previously sat on the Outreach and Education State Exchange Advisory Workgroup, and Chaired the Employer Participation State Exchange Advisory Workgroup. He is a past President of the New Mexico Association of Health Underwriters and past Chairman of the Insurance Stakeholders Group for the New Mexico Office of Health Care Reform.

 Michael has presented and testified on the subject of health care reform in front of various organizations and committees including the New Mexico Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Northern New Mexico Human Resource Association, New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange, New Mexico Senate Public Affairs Committee, Renaissance Health Services Corporation, and the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. In March, he will also be presenting at the state Society for Human Resource Management meeting.

 Michael has a Bachelor’s degree from the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California. He is a licensed Health & Accident Agent, and Leadership New Mexico graduate. Michael hopes to graduate from the University of New Mexico with a Master of Health Administration (MHA) before the fall of 2016. He plans to use his knowledge gained through the program to make a lasting impact on how health care is delivered in New Mexico.