Features

Bill Hailed As Compromise In Emotional Debate Over Rising Medical Malpractice Costs Passed House 63-0

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Bill co-sponsor Rep. Ryan Lane, R-Atezc

By ROBERT NOTT
The Santa Fe New Mexican

A bill brokered this week by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state Senate leaders from both parties — hailed as a compromise in an emotional debate over rising medical malpractice costs — passed the House of Representatives in a 63-0 vote Thursday. 

Senate Bill 523, drafted in a deal with trial lawyers and health care professionals, will cap medical malpractice payouts for independent outpatient clinics at $1 million, which they say will allow them to obtain malpractice insurance and keep their doors open.

Under Read More

County COVID-19 Community Newsletter: March 17, 2023

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Read this week’s issue of the COVID-19 Community Newsletter for an update on how Los Alamos County is doing; plus, get information about the FDA’s recent approval of Pfizer’s Bivalent booster for children 6 months to 4 years, why there wasn’t a large winter surge and what that means for the future, and whether lessons are being learned from the pandemic. Find all this and more here: https://conta.cc/3yL2edq

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LAVNS Holds Flash Sale On Daffodils Today And Friday

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Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service (LAVNS) is hosting a flash sale on its daffodil fundraiser through 5:15 p.m. today at Smith’s Food and Drug. The public is encouraged to purchase a bunch of daffodils for $5. LAVNS also will sell daffodil bunches for $5, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at its office at 109 Central Park Square. All proceeds go toward  hospice patients. Courtesy/LAVNS Read More

Feldenkrais Los Alamos Offers Innovative Way To Heal Pain

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Feldenkrais Los Alamos Owner Judith Hoffman demonstrates some of the exercises featured in the Feldenkrais Method at her space in  557 Oppenheimer Drive, Suite 100. Hoffman offers both the Functional Integration and Awareness Through Movement modalities. To learn more, visit https://www.feldlosalamos.com/. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Feldenkrais Los Alamos Owner Judith Hoffman demonstrates some of the exercises featured in the Feldenkrais Method at her space in  557 Oppenheimer Drive, Suite 100. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Read More

Bill Creating School-Based Health Centers Passes House

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Bill co-sponsor Rep. Christine Trujillo

DPNM News:

SANTA FE — The New Mexico House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 397 Wednesday night, which would support development of school-based health centers in New Mexico public schools by a vote of 40-25. 

School-based health centers provide physical and behavioral health services to students on or near school grounds. Among the services these health centers would provide are primary care, preventive care, diagnoses, treatment of chronic conditions, mental health care, crisis intervention, or referrals for additional treatment.

“Whether Read More

Senate Passes Bipartisan Bill To Address Medical Malpractice Payout Caps In New Mexico

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The Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo

By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

With less than 72 hours left in the 60-day legislative session, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill today designed to address concerns over looming changes to New Mexico’s medical malpractice law, which doctors and other providers have been pleading with lawmakers to resolve for weeks.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe described Senate Bill 523 as a hard-fought compromise between the New Mexico Medical Society and the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association that will allow independent clinics Read More

Governor Brokers Bipartisan Compromise To Revise New Mexico’s Medical Malpractice Law

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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announcing the bipartisan agreement she brokered today with Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth and Senate Minority Floor Leader Greg Baca that would revise New Mexico’s medical malpractice law. Courtesy photo

From the Office of the Governor:

SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham brokered a bipartisan agreement today with Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth and Senate Minority Floor Leader Greg Baca that would revise New Mexico’s medical malpractice law.

Senate Bill 523 unanimously passed the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee Read More

Gruninger: Balance – Prevent Falls & Injury

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By JACCI GRUNINGER, MS, C-IAYT
Los Alamos

BALANCE – it’s such a big word and relates to so many parts of our lives. Don’t you try to balance your work-life; your budget, time with friends and family, community service and hobbies?

It’s good to know that by practicing balance on your yoga mat, you not only enhance your ability to physically balance, but also will find better mental, emotional and spiritual balance off your mat.

Balance often equals control and who doesn’t want more control in their lives? When we first learn to walk, the more balance we have the easier it is to move. The same is Read More

House Bill 27 Health Coverage To Eliminate Copays For Breast Cancer Screenings Heads To Governor’s Desk

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Bill co-sponsor Rep. Christine Chandler

DPNM News:

SANTA FE — House Bill 27, to eliminate copays and cost sharing for breast cancer screenings, will now make its way to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law, after unanimously passing the Senate Thursday. 

The bill would extend the exemption for out-of-pocket costs on annual mammograms to also apply to additional, doctor-recommended screenings, which are often cost prohibitive and result in patients forgoing recommended tests that can be early detectors of breast cancer.

“Early detection is critical in successfully treating breast Read More

New Mexico House Committee Approves Bill To Create Unified Health Care Authority

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Bill co-sponsor Sen. Liz Stefanics

By ROBERT NOTT
The Santa Fe New Mexican

A bill that would blend several divisions from various state agencies into a new health care authority is moving closer to reality.

Members of the House Health and Human Services Committee voted 6-3 along party lines to approve Senate Bill 16, which would allow the state to lay out a plan to rename the Human Services Department as the Health Care Authority Department and add a number of health-related entities from other state agencies. 

The refashioned department would be charged with finding and buying the most affordable Read More