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Dr. Alexander Named 2008 Family Physician of the Year
Dr. Lonnie Alexander of Portales was named the 2008 Family Physician of the Year by his peers. He received the award during the New Mexico Academy of Family Physicians’ annual family medicine seminar in Taos. Alexander, a family practitioner with a specialized emphasis in obstetrics and gynecology, has been practicing medicine in Portales since January of 1986. “It is a great honor to be selected for this award,” Alexander said. “I highly respect the physicians that have won this award before me and to be placed in their company means a lot to me.” Recipients of the award are nominated by other NMAFP members, said board chair Lana Wagner.
Alexander was nominated by Joel Sievers, a doctor of sports medicine in Portales. “Lonnie embodies what a family physician should be,” Sievers said. “I have had the privilege of knowing Lonnie for seven years and the honor of working with him for five years.” Sievers said he admires Alexander for his determination to continue to provide service when Portales was without a hospital. “Many of the doctors left Portales, but he continued to see patients. Many times he was there late at night providing care for the patients, but he never turned anyone away,” Sievers said.
A New Mexico native who grew up in Espanola, Alexander attended Eastern New Mexico University for undergraduate studies in 1972. He graduated from medical school at the University of New Mexico in 1982 and served his residency in Colorado from 1982-1985. He has been an associate faculty member of UNM’s Department of Family Medicine since 1986.
