Another wellness hotel opens in Albuquerque metro

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Together, Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque opened a third wellness hotel just in time for last week’s winter freeze.

"It’s up and running and has people in it right now," Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa said.

Carol Pierce, CABQ director of Family and Community Services, said the new hotel also helped offset a few residents from the West Side facility with health problems.

“They weren’t COVID positive, but it really got them out of that congregate setting," she said.

"It’s so successful that we’re adding five rooms," added County Manager Julie Morgas Baca.

Officials said those rooms should be ready to go by Tuesday night.

Over in northwest Albuquerque, the Westside Emergency Housing Center remains open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Officials there said they planned ahead to prepare rooms and make sure there was enough food for the recent storm.

"In the peak of the storm, I want to say it was 420,” Pierce said. “We have capacity for 450 through the fire marshal."

Both the city and the county said they have teams on the streets, looking for people who might need help and letting them know what services are available.

At the Gateway Center in southeast Albuquerque, officials are not only offering food and a warm place to stay. Nearby, the Trauma Recovery Center at the Gibson Health Hub is complete and is up and running.

"They’re really taking a holistic approach over there at the trauma recovery center, really looking at all senses,” Pierce said. “Sometimes it’s talking that helps, sometimes it’s art, sometimes it’s so many different interventions to really lift up the human being that may have had trauma."

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