Healthcare

Public Safety, Behavioral Health Bills Pass Senate, House

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Sen. Joseph Cervantes

By ESTEBAN CANDELARIA and NATHAN BROWN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

Bills to crack down on crime and improve New Mexico’s behavioral health system took major steps forward Friday and may reach the governor’s desk soon.

House Bill 8, which would reform criminal competency laws as well as cracking down on shooting threats, fentanyl trafficking and drunken driving, passed the Senate 38-3 Friday evening after extensive debate. The bill needs to go back to the House to concur with or reject some amendments made in the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week and on the Senate Read More

Baby Bonds A Crucial Investment In New Mexico’s Health

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By Dr. Samuel Swift, MPH, PhD

As an assistant professor teaching public health, I begin every class by asking my students what they believe is the biggest public health problem in New Mexico. Semester after semester, the most common answer I get is “poverty”.

Our students know intuitively what over a century of epidemiological research has shown, which is that wealth creates health.

New Mexicans who have more educational and economic opportunities live longer lives, are more able to avoid preventable diseases, and contribute more to our community. Unfortunately, many of our young adults Read More

Senate Bill 176 To Reform New Mexico’s Medical Malpractice Law Gains 20 Bipartisan Sponsors

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From Think New Mexico:

Senate Bill 176, which proposes three patient-centered reforms to New Mexico’s medical malpractice law, continues to gather momentum and has now picked up 20 bipartisan sponsors:

Democratic Sponsors of SB 176

  • Sen. Martin Hickey (D-Abq)
  • Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup)
  • Sen. Bobby Gonzales (D-Taos)
  • Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Santa Fe)
  • Rep. Anita Gonzales (D-Las Vegas)
  • Rep. D. Wonda Johnson (D-Rehoboth)
  • Rep. Patricia Lundstrom (D-Gallup)
  • Rep. Marian Matthews (D-Abq)
  • Rep. Joseph Sanchez (D-Alcalde)
  • Rep. Sarah Silva (D-Las Cruces)

Republican Sponsors of SB 176

  • Sen. Pat Woods
Read More

LAMC Continues To Seek Applicants For Patient Representative Position On Hospital Board Of Trustees

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LAMC News:

Los Alamos Medical Center (LAMC) continues to seek individuals who have received care at the hospital within the last year to apply for a three-year term on the hospital’s Board of Trustees as Patient Representative. This individual will play a key role as the patient “voice” advocate for the Board.

The Board is a collection of medical providers, community members and hospital administrators that meets in the evening every month at the hospital.

Among the responsibilities for the Patient Representative:

  • Help identify what our hospital is doing well and also help pinpoint areas
Read More

Fracking Wastewater Slashed From ‘Strategic Supply’ Bill, But $74 Million Allocation Remains

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Norm Gaume
President
New Mexico Water Advocates

By ALAINA MENCINGER
The Santa Fe New Mexican

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made waves in 2023 when she announced a plan to ensure a secure water source for New Mexico. 

She pointed to two unorthodox, untapped water resources: brackish water — or naturally occurring, salty water — and what’s known as “produced water” — a byproduct of hydraulic fracturing. 

The latter instantly generated controversy. 

Although the measure floundered last year, Lujan Grisham was ready to try again to incentivize the treatment and reuse of both brackish Read More

NMDOH: Measles Outbreak Declared In Lea County

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NMDOH News:

The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) reports two adult Lea County residents tested positive for measles Thursday– as confirmed by the NMDOH Scientific Laboratory Division – totaling to three cases this week.  

New Mexico meets the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s outbreak criteria with three unrelated cases in Lea County. The cases border Texas’s Gaines County, where cases have jumped from 2 to 48 cases in two weeks. While a connection to the Texas outbreak is suspected, it remains unconfirmed. 

“We are investigating every suspected case, and we encourage Read More

Bipartisan Legislation Introduced To Bring New Mexico Into Nine Major Interstate Compacts For Health Care Workers

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Fred Nathan, Jr.
Executive Director
Think New Mexico

From Think New Mexico:

A bipartisan team of 10 legislators has introduced a package of bills to bring New Mexico into the interstate compacts for physicians, physician assistants, psychologists, counselors, dentists and dental hygienists, emergency medical personnel, audiologists and speech therapists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. (See below for a chart listing all bill numbers and sponsors.)

Joining these interstate compacts was one of the top reforms recommended by the nonpartisan think tank Think New Read More

New Mexico Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program Returns

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NMDOH News:

SANTA FE — The Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program, which provides benefits for eligible seniors and families in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC) has returned. 

This seasonal program, provided by the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH), helps connect income-eligible seniors (60 and older, or 55 and older for Native Americans) and WIC families with locally grown fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. The program for seniors also includes local honey.  

“Eating a healthy diet is key to thriving at every stage of life,” said Read More

School-Based Health Centers Making A Difference Statewide

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NMDOH News:

SANTA FE — Children in New Mexico public schools can focus more on lessons after a recent expansion of School-Based Health Centers (SBHC) has provided care that helps keep them in the classroom.

February is National School-Based Health Care Awareness month and an opportunity to celebrate successes and raise awareness about how SBHCs improve access to health care services for children and adolescents and make a difference in their lives today and in the future. 

The New Mexico Department of Health’s (NMDOH) Office of School & Adolescent Health Office funds 59 of the more than Read More

Robinson: Patients Sound Off On Medical Malpractice Costs

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By SHERRY ROBINSON
All She Wrote
© 2024 New Mexico News Services

This is how bad New Mexico’s medical malpractice problem is. Reader Carl Hester, of Hobbs, writes that when he went to a doctor in Lubbock, he had to sign a statement, apparently intended for New Mexicans, saying “any lawsuit or other dispute arising from or related to medical care I receive from (the provider) will be brought only in an appropriate court located in Lubbock.”

New Mexico’s reputation for doctor targeting, judge shopping and sky high awards has spread to Texas, where a great many people living on the East Side go for medical Read More