New Mexico hospitals cite financial pressure and care 'deserts' as they brief lawmakers on rural challenges

Aug. 24—LAS VEGAS, N.M. — The shortage of nurses and doctors in rural New Mexico is so dire that some pregnant patients travel hundreds of miles to reach a hospital with obstetrics care.

And sometimes they don't make it in time.

Christina Campos, administrator of the Guadalupe County Hospital in Santa Rosa, told state legislators this week about a recent patient who gave birth at a rest stop while on her way to the hospital.

"That should not be happening in this day and age," Campos said.

She was one of a handful of health care providers and administrators who outlined a litany of challenges Wednesday facing hospitals in New Mexico, especially in rural areas.

Parts of the state, Campos said, are an obstetrics "desert." The medical specialty for pregnancy and childbirth, according to her presentation, is delivered in only eight cities in New Mexico, such as Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces.

Hospitals — rural and urban alike — also face broad financial pressure, representatives of the New Mexico Hospital Association said.

Troy Clark, the association's president and CEO, told lawmakers that two-thirds of the hospitals in the state saw their expenses exceed their revenue over the last 12 months.

He asked lawmakers to consider Medicaid changes intended to bring more federal matching funds into the state, establishing a trust fund to boost investment in hospitals and health care and expanding scholarship programs that target adults looking for a second career in health care.

Clark also encouraged lawmakers to recognize the ways rural and urban hospitals are interconnected. If a service can't be provided in a rural community, he said, the patient may be transferred to, say, Albuquerque.

But "our urban hospitals are bursting at the seams," Clark said.

Lawmakers to establish working group

The presentation appeared to make an impression on lawmakers.

Sen. George Muñoz, a Gallup Democrat and chairman of the Legislative Finance Committee, said he plans to appoint a bipartisan working group to examine ways to strengthen New Mexico's health care network.

An oil boom has pushed state revenue to record highs, and lawmakers are in the early stages of preparing legislation ahead of the 30-day session in January.

Sen. Roberto "Bobby" Gonzales, D-Ranchos de Taos, said the state needs to support its hospitals to prevent more cuts in services.

"We just cannot afford to close any more hospitals," he said during the LFC meeting at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas.

Lawmakers were also briefed Wednesday on some concerning trends in the health care workforce. New Mexico is set to have the nation's second-largest physician shortage in the nation by 2030, and the state has had the nation's oldest physician population, according to analysts working for the Legislative Finance Committee.

The number of primary care providers in New Mexico already fell by about 16% between 2013 and 2019, to about 1,650 individuals, according to data shared with lawmakers.

Carrie Robin Brunder of the New Mexico Medical Society, a professional organization for doctors, said provider shortages are hitting other states too, making it all the more important for New Mexico to improve its recruitment and retention programs.

"New Mexico has to understand," she said, "we're in competition with the rest of the country."

Student debt relief

In a 60-day session earlier this year, state lawmakers and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham approved revisions to the state's medical malpractice law, more generous Medicaid reimbursement rates to compensate providers and extra funding for student loan repayment programs — steps intended to help address the provider shortage.

A record-breaking 724 health care professionals in New Mexico will see at least some of their student debt paid off under the legislation — up from just 44 the previous year, according to figures released by the state Higher Education Department.

The debt relief is awarded in exchange for agreeing to work in high-need communities for three years.