Emelda Martinez

Emelda Martinez, RN, BSN, has over 35 years working in the Maternal Child Health field.  As a clinical RN, she worked 12 years in the hospital setting as a Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse. She has a Bachelor’s of Science (BSN) degree from UNM.  She went on to work for the State of New Mexico in the Medical Assistance Division (Medicaid) overseeing the Maternal Health, Pregnancy-related services as well as the Midwifery and Early Childhood and Developmental services. Later moving to the Department of Health where she was Program Manager for Maternal and Child Health services. This led to becoming Bureau Chief of the Family Health Bureau where she was Director for the Maternal Child Health Title V program which had oversight of 73 million dollars in federal grants for programs. This included Children’s Medical Services, Family Food and Nutrition Services also known as Women Infant and Children Supplemental Food Program (WIC), Family Planning program, Maternal Health and Child Health Services which includes an Epidemiology section that collects and analyzes data from throughout the state on the services and needs of the families in New Mexico. These programs provided food, medical services, and education to people throughout New Mexico.  She is currently enjoying retirement with her husband. She has two grown sons and is happy they live nearby and are doing well.