A construction crew broke ground this week near 4th Street and Hazeldine in southwest Albuquerque on what organizers call New Mexico's first dedicated home health care training hub. The building is designed to look and feel like an actual house rather than a hospital wing, giving future caregivers a place to practice the realities of working inside someone's home before they ever show up for a shift.
The project is led by Encuentro, the Albuquerque nonprofit behind the effort, according to KRQE. Encuentro founder and executive director Andrea Plaza said the state faces growing demand for qualified aides to support older adults and people with disabilities or chronic health conditions. The new facility, Plaza said, is meant to give people the skills they need for careers in home health care.
Unlike a typical classroom or clinical training site, the new building is modeled after a home. It's a simulation center, not a clinical setting, allowing students to get a real hands-on experience for what it feels like to go into someone's home, per the same KRQE report. That distinction matters because the training prepares students for work in someone's home rather than a clinical setting.
A Years-Long Push Finally Gets a Building
Encuentro has been training home health aides since well before this groundbreaking. The organization created a culturally and linguistically competent training program for Latino immigrants in Albuquerque back in 2015, according to PHI. That program, delivered over 15 weeks in Spanish with scholarships covering tuition and childcare, has graduated everyone who enrolled — 94 people, per PHI's accounting, all earning a home health aide certificate.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico has reported even broader numbers, finding that more than 250 students have graduated from Encuentro's nationally recognized Home Health Aide program since it began in 2015. The insurer also found that most graduates had gone on to become self-employed, earning an average of $26 an hour, compared with an average agency wage of $12 an hour.
Encuentro describes its Home Health Aide program as a comprehensive Spanish-language curriculum designed specifically for immigrants to enter and excel in the field. Graduates earn a home health aide certificate. EnCasaCare Connections matches caregivers with local families, the organization says.
Funding and a Timeline for the New Center
Encuentro says the new center's construction is funded with support from the New Mexico Legislature and private foundations. Albuquerque Business First has reported the project as a $1.1 million training center. Construction is expected to be complete by April 2027, with the first training programs beginning the following summer.
Encuentro says the new facility will expand training opportunities locally and across New Mexico — a notable claim given how concentrated the state's caregiving workforce already is. PHI has reported that 8,000 home health aides in New Mexico currently assist older adults and people with disabilities with daily tasks.
Why the State Needs More Caregivers
The demographic math behind Plaza's demand concerns is stark. UNM News has reported that the number of New Mexicans aged 65 and older is expected to increase by over 200,000 over the next 20 years, a rise of more than 28%. By 2040, nearly 23% of New Mexicans will be 65 or older, according to the same UNM analysis.
The oldest segment of that population is growing even faster. UNM projections show the number of New Mexicans 85 and older will more than double over the next 20 years, from around 40,000 in 2020 to over 85,000 in 2040. Against that backdrop, a training center purpose-built to simulate real home caregiving — rather than a clinical floor — offers a place for trainees to practice those skills.
