Office of the Secretary
Cabinet Secretary Patrick M. Allen
Patrick Allen has served as the Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Health since 2023. Allen oversees the New Mexico public health system, including statewide programs and a network of 52 local public health offices across the state. He is also responsible for the operation of eight health care facilities treating over 600 patients in settings including the state psychiatric hospital, the state veterans’ home, and various behavioral health treatment and long-term care facilities. Allen is committed to working with all New Mexicans to help the state become the healthiest in the nation by 2040.
Prior to his appointment by New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Allen was the Director of the Oregon Health Authority, that state’s umbrella health agency. He was responsible for operation of Oregon’s Medicaid program, as well as delivery of health insurance to Oregonians through the state’s health insurance marketplace. His role also included overseeing health insurance benefits for state employees and educators throughout Oregon. In addition, he was responsible for the statewide behavioral health system, the state public health system, health strategic policy as well as 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 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 and spending time serving on the district staff of a member of the state’s Congressional delegation and serving on his local planning commission and school board. Allen has a degree in Economics from Oregon State University. He and his wife Joan live in Santa Fe and have three grown children.