Features

Vitalant Blood Drive At Los Alamos Senior Center March 3

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LARSO News:

How do you become a superhero in your own neck of the woods? Come visit the “sandwich ladies” for the first ever blood drive held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday, March 3 at the Betty Ehart Senior Center.

The best news is “the sandwich ladies are back”. The loving moniker of the lunch ladies was bestowed upon the Los Alamos Volunteer Association or RSVP volunteers many years ago. As the pandemic took over the relationship had to take a backseat.

Prior to COVID, the sandwich ladies were known for their egg salad and the original recipe will be strictly followed by LARSO staff to attempt a continuity Read More

New Mexico Lawmakers Have Many Ideas To Address Behavioral Health Crisis But Lack Coordination

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Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Piño

By ROBERT NOTT
The Santa Fe New Mexican

The initiatives look promising on paper.

One bill would create a $10 million fund to fill vacant behavioral health provider positions. Another calls for $20 million to provide substance abuse treatment for homeless people. A third would give law enforcement the right to take people displaying signs of a mental health crisis to a triage center rather than jail.

Lawmakers have introduced more than two dozen bills aimed at addressing behavioral health, mental health and substance abuse problems — initiatives advocates say would aid Read More

New Mexico Independent Medical Providers Say Rising Malpractice Cap Threatens To Shut Them Down

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Gabrielle M. Adams, M.D.

By ROBERT NOTT and DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

Clad in her white medical coat, Dr. Gabrielle Adams moved through the halls of the state Capitol, hoping to talk to any lawmaker she could find.

“I’ve been walking around trying to grab people,” said Adams, president of Albuquerque-based Southwest Gastroenterology.

Her goal was to persuade lawmakers to approve a bill that would cap medical malpractice payouts at $750,000 for independent outpatient health care facilities that are not majority-owned by a hospital.

If Senate Bill 296 fails, several providers Read More

New Mexico Center On Law And Poverty: Ask Legislators To Pass HB 400 ‘Medicaid Forward’

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Courtesy/New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty

By New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty

  • Contact House Health and Human Services Committee members this weekend

We all deserve access to high quality, affordable healthcare. But for far too long, New Mexico families have been forced to delay or go without the medical care they need because healthcare is too expensive. This legislative session, our state has a historic opportunity to open up the Medicaid program and ensure every New Mexican has access to affordable care.

Medicaid is a robust, comprehensive program that already provides high-quality Read More

DEA On Proposed Rules For Permanent Telemedicine Flexibilities Beyond Scheduled End Of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

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  • Telemedicine prescriptions must be otherwise consistent with applicable state and federal laws. Courtesy/DEA

DEA News:

  • DEA extends many telemedicine flexibilities adopted during the COVID-19 PHE with appropriate safeguards

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Drug Enforcement Administration announced Friday proposed permanent rules for the prescribing of controlled medications via telemedicine, expanding patient access to critical therapies beyond the scheduled end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The public will be able to comment for 30 days on the proposed rules.

The proposed Read More

Op-Ed: New Mexico Bill Poised To Make Meaningful Special Education Changes

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Contributors to this Op-Ed:

Joel Davis, NM Developmental Disability Council Chair & parent, Katie Stone, NMDD Council Vice-chair & parent, Jennifer D. Sanchez, CFPSW NMDD Council Secretary & parent, Valentín Anaya, NMDD Council Treasurer, & parent, John Arango NMDD Council Past Chair & parent

By NMDD Council Members:

HB 285, the Special Education Act, begins the process of transformation long overdue in special education and will ultimately improve the outcomes for disabled students statewide. It’s about time.

  • Only 64% of students receiving special education
Read More

New Mexico Paid Medical Leave Bill Heads To Full Senate

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Sen. William Burt

By DANIEL J. CHACÓN 
Santa Fe New Mexican

A contentious proposal that would entitle employees in New Mexico to up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave is headed to the full Senate for what promises to be a hard-fought debate on the floor.

Senate Bill 11 narrowly made it out of the Senate Finance Committee on a 6-5 vote Thursday after a 3½-hour hearing that drew stiff opposition to the measure from Republicans.

“It’s an undue burden on small business,” Sen. William Burt, (R-Alamogordo). “It’s a tax on small business.”

Sen. George Muñoz, (D-Gallup), who chairs the committee, Read More

Leonard: Cracked Pot Parable And Being A Perfectionist

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By LAURA LEONARD
Doctor of Chiropractic
Los Alamos

The story of the cracked pot is the third and final parable in my series on gratitude, optimism and learning how to let go of thinking patterns that chip away at our well-being.

The first parable I covered was that of the Chinese farmer.

This story teaches us to view life events as neither good nor bad because the ripple effects of these events are usually different than we expect. For the farmer, his horse ran away only to return with another horse by its side. While the other villagers said this was bad and were feeling sorry for him, the optimistic farmer Read More

New Mexico Increase In Alcohol Excise Tax Stumbles

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Rep. Derrick J. Lente

By ROBERT NOTT
The Santa Fe New Mexican

An effort to increase New Mexico’s alcohol excise tax for the first time in 30 years — a measure intended to help the state rein in a problem that takes the lives of more than six people a day — stumbled Monday when the House Taxation and Revenue Committee unanimously voted to table the bill.

House Bill 230 calls for a flat 25-cent tax per serving, starting in July — a hefty change from tax rates that now range from a high of 15.5 cents for a serving of “fortified wine” to a low of 0.4 cents for a serving of spirits by a craft distiller that has sold less Read More

Unions Celebrate Committee Passage Of HB 236 To Establish Process For Safe Staffing Levels In New Mexico’s Hospital Settings

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AFT NM News:

SANTA FE – National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, District 1199NM Executive Director, HB 236 Sponsor Rep. Eleanor Chavez, District 1199NM President James Ortiz and American Federation of Teachers New Mexico (AFT NM) President Whitney Holland issued the following statement Monday celebrating House Bill 236’s advancement thorough the House Health and Human Services Committee:

“Our unions are celebrating the passage of House Bill 236 through its first committee, the House Health and Human Services Committee on a unanimous vote. House Bill 236 would begin the Read More