Serving the High Plains
New Mexico Secretary of Health Kathyleen Kunkel announced Friday she would retire but will remain at her position during the coronavirus pandemic until a replacement is found.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration will begin a nationwide search for a full-time replacement.
“Every single day of this public health crisis has been a physically and mentally exhausting ordeal — not just for the Department of Health, not just for the thousands of health care professionals putting their lives and livelihoods on the line to protect New Mexicans, but for all of us as the people of this state,” Kunkel stated in a news release. “I am incredibly proud of the work done by the Department of Health and indeed the entire state of New Mexico in addressing this virus, in mitigating its spread and in doing everything we can to keep New Mexicans safe and healthy. That work will continue until we’ve seen ourselves through to the other side of this crisis.”
“At the same time, I know in my heart that the moment has come for me to begin the next phase of my life. It is a personal decision I make, not a professional one.”
Kunkel, 69, began her career as a pediatric social worker at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.
In addition to working in the state Attorney General’s Office, she worked across various divisions of the Department of Health for seven years before Lujan Grisham appointed her secretary in January 2019.
Kunkel holds a master’s degree in social work from Michigan State University and a law degree from the University of New Mexico.