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Office of the Secretary

Cabinet Secretary Patrick M. Allen

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Patrick M. Allen was appointed by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham in January 2023 to serve as the Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Health. Allen oversees the New Mexico public health system, statewide epidemiology and emergency response services, the state scientific laboratory, services for New Mexicans with developmental disabilities, statewide health facility regulation, and the operation of seven residential care facilities, including the Behavioral Health Institute and the New Mexico State Veteran’s Home.

For five years before his appointment, Allen was the Director of the Oregon Health Authority, that state’s umbrella health agency. He was responsible for delivery of health insurance to over 40% of Oregonians through Medicaid, the state’s health insurance marketplace, and health insurance benefits for state employees and education employees throughout Oregon. He was also responsible for the statewide behavioral health system, including the Oregon State Hospital, a two-campus, 700-bed psychiatric facility. Allen also oversaw the state public health system, health policy as well as health facility regulation, and systems to regulate mergers and acquisition and other aspects of health care costs. Allen was responsible for leading Oregon’s overall response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which the Commonwealth Fund rated as the fifth best in the United States.

Patrick M. Allen has been in public service for over 30 years, including six years running Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services, the state’s general financial and business regulatory agency. As Oregon’s lead insurance regulator, he played a key role in stabilizing the individual health insurance market through the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He has also worked in community and economic development in Oregon, as well as spending time serving on the district staff of a member of the state’s Congressional delegation.

Allen has a degree in Economics from Oregon State University. He and his wife Joan have three grown children.