Hospital’s Health on the Table

By Megan Arredondo By Megan Arredondo MARREDONDO@ABQTRIB.COM/ 823-3602

University of New Mexico Hospital leaders and health care advocates say patients should expect to see better care as a result of the statewide summit that Gov. Bill Richardson called for in July.

Among the ideas that surfaced to keep the hospital financially healthy is a quarter-cent, statewide gross receipts tax.

Richardson dropped in at Monday’s daylong event to announce a plan to keep more people enrolled in Medicaid.

Treating the uninsured was just one issue that brought more than 200 health care representatives, state officials and community activists to the UNM campus.

Participants ended the day pointing to efforts they hope will allow UNM to treat more residents, particularly the uninsured, and not lose money in the process.

As the state’s only level one trauma center, UNMH sees the state’s most critical patients. But in a typical year, 57 percent of emergency room patients have no insurance.

The university eats the cost of “uncompensated care.” That amounted to $45 million this year.

Years of disagreement and even lawsuits between community organizations and the hospital about finances and quality of care prompted Richardson to call for the summit.

UNM has launched several initiatives in recent months, including:

Creating an Office of Community Affairs to ensure the community stays involved with the hospital’s strategic plans. The next step is hiring a director and setting up an advisory board.

Adding translators to assure non-English-speaking patients get adequate interpretation services. The university recently hired four translators, bringing the total to seven.

Longer term requests, all of which would have to be approved by the state Legislature, included:

$110 million generated through a quarter of a cent from a statewide gross receipts tax. The tax would would draw on counties outside Bernalillo to help pay for the cost of the hospital that residents statewide use.

Longer time for Medicaid recipients to keep their benefits before having to reapply. Recipients now must reapply after six months or face losing benefits. In a brief speech during the summit, Richardson said he wants to extend that time to one year.

$13.2 million for the School

of Medicine that would help pay

for faculty compensation and increasing enrollment.

$10 million in savings by having the state waive a portion of the money it collects from UNM on behalf of Bernalillo County. The state could replace the mill levy with a gross receipts tax, placing the burden on the entire county rather than just property owners. Or, the state could simply exempt Bernalillo County from paying the money at all. $40.4 million for capital projects. This would include $10 million to maintain and upgrade patient care equipment, $20 million for a medical surgical specialties building, and $10.4 million to build the second phase of the Health Sciences Center Education Building. $14 million to $20 million to enhance state insurance coverage. UNM is under contract to provide New Mexico State Coverage Insurance but may only enroll 3,500 people. The university wants the state to enroll up to 10,000 patients, allowing the hospital to be reimbursed up to $28.5 million.

$38 million more to hospitals that serve a large number of lowincome patients. UNM Hospital is qualified to receive up to $50 million. Because the federal limit is $12.1 million, the state could opt to provide $38 million more. Many of the summit participants were pleased with the outcome.

“I think this is the first step to try to do the right thing,” said Alma Olivas, a member of the Community Coalition for Health Care Access, a group of about 30 organizations and individuals that fights for equal access to health care.

Olivas said she hopes the summit will do more than get more money for UNM. She hopes the hospital will better use the money it already has.

Hospital CEO Steve McKernan said the summit provided a good forum for the community.

“Generally speaking, what’s positive is this brought a lot of groups together,” McKernan said. “We’re moving in a very good direction.”

Jamie Koch, UNM Board of Regents president, said a report on the summit will be compiled and released to the public, with a public meeting to be scheduled afterward.

With the Legislature meeting in January, Koch said UNM needs to move fast. UNM hopes for some movement on the ideas in this coming session but expects that some may be pushed into the following year.