Central NM Democrats seek medical staffing ratios, housing subsidies for providers

The day after House Republican leadership held a news conference announcing their priorities, including lowering the medical malpractice damages cap in New Mexico, a few House Democrats gathered in Albuquerque to combat that message, saying the true health care issues in the state stem from corporate greed.

The three central New Mexico representatives on Tuesday announced their plans to introduce bills creating nurse-to-patient ratios, subsidized housing for certain medical providers and a resource program for health care workers. The goal ultimately is to recruit and retain health care professionals.

“We know that patients are harmed. We know that providers are not able to take care of their patients the way that they want to be able to,” said Rep. Eleanor Chávez of Albuquerque, a former executive director of a health care labor union.

Chávez has introduced legislation that would require the state’s Health Care Authority to set and enforce staffing ratios, ensuring licensed nurses have a maximum number of patients they oversee.

The authority would also get ratio recommendations from a newly created staffing advisory committee composed of private and public hospital administrators or chief nursing officers, nonmanagerial employees of public hospitals involved in direct patient care and representatives of hospital labor organizations, according to the early version of the bill.

The Health Care Authority could approve exceptions to the staffing ratio requirement for rural hospitals if it’s not possible to maintain operational efficiency under the ratios.

Additionally, the ratios aren’t required if there is a national or state emergency with a facility disaster plan, sudden adverse weather conditions or if staff suffer an infectious disease epidemic, according to the prefiled legislation.

“We believe that safe staffing ratios will decrease burnout and increase the numbers of nurses who want to work at the bedside and want to provide patient care,” Chávez said.

New Mexico has struggled with a chronic health care worker shortage in recent years. The state is projected to be short 2,118 doctors by 2030, according to the Cicero Institute, a nonprofit organization.

Given that backdrop, Rep. Kathleen Cates of Corrales plans to introduce a bill that would provide housing subsidies for licensed medical providers earning 150% of the area median income, or AMI, in their county, she said.

The longer the providers stay in New Mexico, Cates said, the more money is forgiven, going from a low-interest loan to a grant.

And Rep.-elect Marianna Anaya of Albuquerque wants to put forth the Health Care Strategic Recruitment program, which would target licensed and unlicensed clinical workers who graduated from higher education institutions in New Mexico.

She said the bill would provide direct outreach to graduates to share incentive programs, connect them with open positions in the state, walk them through the licensing and credential process, act as a personal advocate with agencies and provide them with social connections in the community.

The three representatives are referring to the package of bills as “patient safety over profits,” Cates said.

The legislative proposals combat Republican priorities to lower the cap on medical malpractice damages, something House GOP leaders announced on Monday.

Local attorney Carmela Starace called the idea that doctors don’t want to live in New Mexico because of caps nonsense. She attended Tuesday’s news conference as a patient who had a 6-centimeter brain tumor that was left alone eight months longer than it should’ve been.

She sued the doctor and her primary care physician for delaying a CT scan to figure out what the problem was. She lost 22% of her brain as a result of the tumor.

“That’s what the medical malpractice availability is for, to catch the one bad apple,” Starace said.

The group cited research from Harvard that shows that private equity hospitals — which they said dominate New Mexico’s health care system — lead to a 25% increase in complications because of cost-cutting measures.

“We believe that corporate greed is a driver of the (health care) crisis,” Chávez said.

The three representatives all said they’re in talks with their Republican colleagues about joining in on the bills, garnering bipartisan support even though the Democratic majority doesn’t need that to get the bills across the finish line.

“It’s better if we can have a collaborative effort, as opposed to constantly battling that kind of stuff,” Chávez said. “(That) just takes time away from some of the other issues that are important to the citizens of New Mexico.”

The younger generation wants to work at places that support their values, Anaya said, and that means having protections in place that benefit both medical staff and patients.

She said she had a message for her professional worker colleagues:

“It’s time to come home. It’s time to come home because we want you here and we need you here.”