How New Mexico regulates memory care units

Last verified: October 2026

Is memory care licensed separately in New Mexico?

No. A memory care unit is an assisted living facility, or part of one, that provides added security, enhanced programming and staffing for residents with dementia; it operates under the facility's assisted living license and must also meet the memory care unit section of the rule, 8.370.14.70 NMAC.

The rule defines a secured environment as doors with controlled access, such as alarms, staff monitoring or keypad entry, used to allow freedom of movement while preventing unsafe wandering and elopement. A facility that describes itself as dementia-friendly but has no secured environment is not operating a memory care unit under the rule.

Sources: 8.370.14 NMAC (HCA health facility regulations).

What physical security must a New Mexico memory care unit have?

It needs controlled-access doors or gates (alarmed doors, keypads, gates tied into the fire alarm, or tab alarms for residents at risk of elopement), a safe and secure outdoor area residents can use year-round, and fencing or enclosures that prevent elopement; staff must carry the access code or key at all times.

In Albuquerque's climate the year-round outdoor area matters. Ask to see it, and ask how residents use it on hot July afternoons and windy spring days; shade, seating and walking paths make the difference between a courtyard residents use and one they never see.

Who can be admitted to a memory care unit in New Mexico?

Only residents who need a secured environment, or whose needs the facility can meet, may be admitted, and the paperwork must include a registered nurse or physician extender assessment within 15 days before admission, a primary care practitioner's diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or another dementia with the need for the unit, and a written evaluation of less restrictive alternatives.

In an emergency placement the pre-admission assessment can be done within five days after move-in instead. A medical evaluation by a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner is required within six months of admission, and every resident is re-evaluated every six months and whenever their condition changes significantly or they become a danger to themselves or others.

How must a New Mexico memory care unit be staffed?

At least one trained staff member must be awake and in attendance in the secured environment at all times, the facility must staff enough trained people to meet residents' additional needs, and everyone caring for unit residents must complete New Mexico's long-term care facility dementia training in addition to the general assisted living training.

The general rule already requires four hours of dementia training every two years for direct care staff; the unit section layers the long-term care dementia training requirement (8.370.11 NMAC) on top. Ask how many staff are inside the unit, not in the building, on the overnight shift.

What must a New Mexico memory care unit disclose before admission?

Before admission the facility must tell the resident and their legal representative in writing that it operates a secured environment, which diagnoses and behaviors its staff are trained to care for, and what care, services and type of secured environment it provides.

Keep that disclosure with the admission agreement. If a resident believes they were wrongly placed in the secured unit, they can ask the facility to contact their guardian, the long-term care ombudsman or their primary care practitioner, and the facility must help them do it. The ombudsman program's line is 1-866-451-2901.

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