New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Tuesday that his office is investigating allegations that a Las Cruces hospital has denied care to cancer patients with low incomes or who are uninsured.
At a news conference, Torrez said the investigation into Memorial Medical Center is focused on the hospital’s management, billing practices and standards of care. He described the concerns as “Not only potentially in violation of New Mexico law, but — from my standpoint and based on the things I heard today — truly shocking and appalling.”
Earlier in the day, Torrez met with former hospital employees and patients to hear more about their experiences. He said information shared in the meeting could “profoundly expand” the scope of the initial investigation.
DebbiJo Minser, a breast cancer patient, said the hospital turned her away from a post-surgical follow-up appointment when her Medicaid insurance lapsed.
“There was no offer of self-payment, there was nothing. Just, ‘We can’t see you today,’” she said. “And that’s something people shouldn’t go through when their mind is not right anyway. It was shocking and scary, and it’s just not right.”
Others allege they were required to pay the full cost of their care upfront or were not screened for financial assistance, according to the state Department of Justice.
“It is apparent to me that the management of this facility has failed to place the wellbeing and safety and care of their patients in the proper place and in the proper priority,” Torrez said.
If the allegations are borne out, Torrez said the hospital may have violated as many as three state laws, including the Unfair Practices Act, the New Mexico Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act and the New Mexico Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act.
Torrez said former employees also told his office about a “culture of fear” at the hospital around reporting potentially unlawful practices. He warned management that any attempts to retaliate against those who have now come forward, “Will not be looked on kindly and will be dealt with most severely by the Department of Justice.”
In an email to KUNM, spokesperson for Memorial Medical Center Andrew Cummins said the hospital was “surprised to learn of this investigation” during the news conference.
“We remain committed to expanding access to care and being a good community partner in Las Cruces and Doña Ana County and will be cooperating fully with this investigation,” he wrote.
Memorial’s owner, Lifepoint Health, is in turn owned by Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm at the center of a highly critical report by the Public Equity Stakeholder Project. It found Apollo-owned hospitals across the country experienced cuts to services, layoffs, poor quality ratings and regulatory investigations.
Additionally, late last year, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) launched an investigation into private equity ownership of health facilities following reports from a Lifepoint-owned facility in Iowa about a nurse assaulting patients.
