health shortages

The New Mexico Senate passed an interstate medical compact bill unanimously on Friday to allow doctors licensed in other states to more easily practice here.

In its annual Honesty and Ethics poll, Gallup has named nursing as the nation’s most trusted profession. In light of New Mexico’s persistent medical professional shortages, nurses say this should be a call to action to support the nursing workforce with more investments to keep patients safe and healthy.

The state of New Mexico has expanded its grant program aimed at getting more primary care physicians working across the state. In the past, this effort focused on funding new or expanded residency programs. The grants will now also go to support existing programs in need of funding.

The debate over medical interstate compacts will return to the Roundhouse in this session. Supporters say the compacts would allow medical workers from other states to practice in New Mexico, addressing the worker shortages.

New numbers highlight the shortage of school-based mental health professionals in New Mexico. The University of New Mexico’s Project ECHO has launched a program seeking to target these gaps by mentoring those working directly with kids.

A new executive director for Healthcare Services has taken the reins at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, and she’ll be taking on huge budget overages when it comes to inmate health care. Using traveling nurses to cover inmates' needs is costing the jail millions of dollars.

New Mexico has been facing a shortage of thousands of health care workers for years, and during a presentation to lawmakers last week, the Legislative Finance Committee said it will be even worse five years from now.

Touro University, a New York based non-profit, brought its dental training program to New Mexico this year, making it the first in the state. It is now opening a clinic aimed at alleviating the state’s professional shortage while providing affordable care.

Waiting months for health care appointments is a common experience for New Mexicans, in part because of a lacking health care workforce. On this week’s Let’s Talk New Mexico, we’ll discuss plans to recruit and retain workers to boost access to quality healthcare.

New Mexico’s health care staffing shortage continues to worsen, with a recent report noting nearly all counties say this is their top occupational need. During a recent hearing of the Legislative Health and Humans Services Committee, an official with Presbyterian Medical Services spoke about the impacts of these shortages and offered recommendations to lawmakers to recruit and retain more workers.