$2M health care worker recruitment effort passes House

SANTA FE — A $2 million effort to draw health care workers back to New Mexico is heading to the Senate.

The House floor on Wednesday passed House Bill 15 on a 39-21 vote. The legislation would create a “health care strategic recruitment program” within the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, sending $2 million for the state to use for recruitment efforts.

The bill specifically targets health care professionals who have graduated within the last 10 years from a New Mexico institution or program but aren’t practicing in the state.

“I do believe that our health care workers across the state maybe need a little bit of a battle cry to come back home: We miss you, and we’re ready for you,” said Rep. Marianna Anaya, D-Albuquerque, a sponsor of the bill.

She added that the $2 million appropriation is already included in the proposed budget sitting in the Senate Finance Committee.

The bill is part of a larger package Democrats have dubbed “patient safety over profits.” Another effort part of the package, to institute stricter nurse-to-patient ratios, is waiting to be heard on the House floor.

Anaya had to steer the debate back to her bill a few times in the hourlong discussion. Health care worker recruitment and retention has become somewhat of a contentious issue in the Roundhouse, mainly in terms of how to address the workforce shortage plaguing New Mexico.

Rep. Cathrynn Brown, R-Carlsbad, brought medical malpractice into the conversation. Republicans have been supportive of efforts to rein in medical malpractice lawsuit damages. Brown said “basic reform” to the state’s medical malpractice laws would be a better measure to implement to recruit workers, as opposed to spending $2 million on these recruitment efforts.

Rep. Art De La Cruz, D-Albuquerque, also had questions on medical malpractice, saying that many doctors are leaving New Mexico because of its laws. A bill to curb medical malpractice liability while not reducing caps on damages, Senate Bill 176, still hasn’t had its first committee hearing.

Set to go before Senate Health and Public Affairs first, committee chair Sen. Linda López, D-Albuquerque, declined to comment on the bill or when it would be scheduled.

Anaya, in response to De La Cruz, said hospitals pay for medical malpractice insurance. In turn, De La Cruz pointed out that “not every medical operation is a hospital.”

“Not everybody’s Presbyterian or UNMH. In my district … I have Casa de Salud, and they struggle mightily,” said De La Cruz, who represents Albuquerque’s South Valley.

He continued to ask how medical malpractice affects community health care workers. Anaya clarified that HB15 is not about medical malpractice but said caseworkers, as part of the bill, could help interested transplants get set up in local practices.

Following this year’s House practice of a standing ovation after a new legislator’s first bill passage and having the newbie sing a song, Anaya belted out a few lines of “Proud Mary” after HB15 passed the floor.