OPINION: Maximize federal dollars for rural hospitals by joining the health care worker compacts

As the former administrator of Guadalupe County Hospital, I implore the Legislature to join the interstate health care worker compacts. The compacts would make it easier for rural hospitals like GCH to recruit staff and access specialists via telehealth. Compacts are agreements among states to recognize the licenses issued by other participating states, similar to how a driver’s license issued by one state is valid in other states.

Currently, if a doctor who is licensed to practice in another state would like to care for patients in New Mexico, they have to go through a repetitive licensing process and wait months to hear back from the medical board. Or they could move to any of our neighboring states — Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma — and start practicing medicine immediately. That’s because, unlike New Mexico, all of our surrounding states are among the 43 states that participate in the interstate compact for physicians.

A growing majority of states also participate in compacts for Emergency medical technicians, physician assistants, physical therapists, psychologists, counselors and more. New Mexico is losing out on desperately needed health care providers, and our citizens are potentially missing out on care.

Recently, I learned that there is another reason for urgent action: If we do not pass four specific compacts during the upcoming special session, we could miss out on millions of dollars in federal funding for rural hospitals. That’s because a new $50 billion federal fund to support rural hospitals will be distributed in part based on a complex formula that awards states additional points for various factors, including participation in the compacts for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, emergency medical personnel and psychologists.

New Mexico is one of only four states that participates in just one (or none) of these compacts, the nurse compact. Lawmakers must take action.

Accordingly, I was disappointed to read a quote from the Senate majority leader in the Albuquerque Journal stating that we shouldn’t hold health care policy “hostage” to federal grant opportunities and that lawmakers need more time to work on the compacts. Funding for rural hospitals may not seem urgent to people living in urban areas like Santa Fe or Albuquerque. However, for people in Santa Rosa and other rural communities across our state, it is a literal lifeline for both the facilities and their patients.

Folks living in rural communities tend to be sicker, older and poorer, and it is estimated that planned cuts to Medicaid and Medicare will impact them worse than the urban population. Rural hospitals also tend to have older facilities, more staffing shortages and less cash reserves.

Every penny counts. If Guadalupe County Hospital had an extra $500,000 or $1 million, they could expand essential services, recruit and retain additional quality staff and maintain precious cash reserves. Conversely, similar cuts in funding would potentially close as many as six vulnerable hospitals in rural New Mexico. Even one closure would put additional pressure on already stressed urban hospitals and on struggling emergency medical services providers throughout our state. More importantly, it would needlessly risk the lives of our citizens in rural New Mexico.

Lastly, there is no “work” to be done on the compacts because they are ready to go. They are established contracts between states, and all states must agree to the same language. The House unanimously passed seven of them earlier this year. The governor has also said she supports passing them. We need the Senate to get on board.

Please contact your senators and urge them to pass the compacts now to increase access to providers and secure as much federal funding as possible for rural hospitals. We should not be held hostage by a reluctant Senate.