On this week's episode of The Reporter's Notebook Podcast, we’re talking to Patrick Allen, cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Department of Health. At the end of 2022, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham appointed Allen as the leader of the state’s health department following the resignation of Dr. David Scrase. Allen began his work in the department on Jan. 3.

Before coming to New Mexico, Allen worked as the director of the Oregon Health Authority. In Oregon, he led the agency’s response to COVID-19 and guided Oregon’s statewide Medicaid plan and behavioral health system.

We’ll talk about his plans and priorities for the department as the COVID-19 public health orders expire. New Mexico’s COVID-19 public health order expired Friday, March 31. Meanwhile, the federal government plans to end the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency on May 11, 2023.