Andrea Botero-Tompkins Will Spearhead More Than 33 Statewide Health Care Programs with a Community-Informed Approach
Longtime local health care leader Andrea Botero-Tompkins has been named director of New Mexico Programs at Project ECHO, the telementoring nonprofit headquartered at The University of New Mexico Health Sciences.
Botero-Tompkins joined ECHO in May 2022. She previously worked at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, the First Choice Community Healthcare Broadway clinic, Casa de Salud, a nonprofit health provider, and the nonprofit La Plazita Institute. Her background also includes leadership in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in several health care organizations.
Botero-Tompkins will oversee 33 ECHO health care programs focused on New Mexicans, as well as the launch of several new programs in 2023 for pediatric mental health, diabetes and more.
Project ECHO empowers practitioners and professionals from rural and under-resourced areas to improve the well-being of people where they live. Botero-Tompkins “fell in love” with ECHO’s “all teach, all learn” methodology when she witnessed its implementation at First Choice.
“It removed the hierarchy,” she says. “The voices of community health workers were on the same level as the doctors, which created an environment for more holistic patient care.”
Botero-Tompkins will focus on promoting equity across new and existing ECHO programs, and revamping curricula with an eye toward inclusivity. “It’s important for doctors to see what fractures look like in female athletes, as well as male ones. Or how a rash looks on different skin tones,” she says.
“We want every New Mexican to have access to high-quality, timely health care and education, wherever they live,” says Project ECHO founder Sanjeev Arora, MD. “Andrea’s lifelong passion for service and inclusivity is crucial to achieving our goal.”
“With Andrea’s appointment, we are doubling down on our commitment to New Mexico and to serving people from all backgrounds, across the state,” Arora says.
About Project ECHO
In 2023, Project ECHO is celebrating 20 years of disseminating knowledge in rural and under resourced areas. Founded and headquartered at The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque, N.M., Project ECHO empowers local community providers to improve the well-being of people in New Mexico and around the world.