Some state lawmakers want to require hospitals to have a minimum number of nurses on duty but some physicians said the proposal overlooks the state’s growing doctor shortage, which is also contributing to longer wait times and reduced patient care.
House Bill 72, sponsored by Reps. Eleanor Chávez, Katy M. Duhigg, Joanne J. Ferrary, Elizabeth “Liz” Thomson and Reena Szczepanski, would require the state’s Health Care Authority to establish and enforce staffing regulations for nurses. It would also create a Staffing Advisory Committee to oversee hospital compliance.
According to a recent analysis by the UNM Health Sciences Center, New Mexico, the nursing shortage is more severe. The most recent data shows the state needs nearly 6,000 more nurses, close to 2,000 EMTs and about 500 pharmacists, but is short only about 334 primary care physicians.
The charts below show that the number of registered nurses and clinical nurse specialists is far below normal in about half the state and Bernalillo is the only county that nears the benchmark for nurse staffing.
But one UNM doctor told News Port that fixing one workforce crisis without addressing the other will not fully solve the state’s healthcare challenges.
“There’s a huge primary care shortage in terms of family medicine providers,” said Dr. Abraham Guiamaes, a family physician at UNM Hospital.
“It’s just difficult. From my perspective, it’s tough for patients to get in to see me because I’m very backlogged… there’s not much we can do,” Guiamaes added.
Critics of the bill say that while nursing shortages are a major issue, physician shortages are also pressing. They point to New Mexico’s malpractice laws as a major barrier to recruiting and retaining doctors.
One doctor who works closely with medical students warned that without incentives, many young doctors will leave New Mexico for states with more favorable conditions.
“In order to incentivize people to come to a state where maybe they don’t have the same resources or opportunities as other locations, you have to offset that in other ways, such as lowering malpractice caps or providing financial incentives,” said Dr. Edward Auyang, a professor of surgery at the University of New Mexico.
The bill was approved by the House Health and Human Services Committee Feb. 3 and is awaiting a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee.
