MIH Coordinator Named EMS Provider of the Year

Paul Ford, Coordinator of the Las Cruces Fire Department’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare program, was recently honored with the 2024 New Mexico Emergency Medical Services Bureau Provider of the Year/EMT-Paramedic Award.

The award was presented during the 11^th Annual New Mexico Fire and EMS Expo held Oct. 23-27, 2024, at the New Mexico Firefighters Training Academy in Socorro, N.M.

The award is for Ford’s work in educating EMT and paramedic students on how to navigate complex patients through the healthcare system.

“Paul is a talented, dedicated and incredibly hard-working leader of the MIH program that he has initiated and built over many years,” said Dr. Benjamin Divin, Medical Director for the Las Cruces Fire Department.

The NM Fire and EMS Expo award adds to a long list of Ford’s accomplishments. In 2021, he was recognized as the New Mexico Public Citizen of the Year by the New Mexico Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

Ford is a 14-year veteran of the Las Cruces Fire Department and helped create the MIH Program in 2017.