New Mexico Senate Bill 7, designed to create a $200 million Rural Health Care Delivery Fund, had its first hearing before the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee, The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Jan. 25.
The fund would allow hospitals in counties with less than 100,000 residents to apply for grants that could be used for expansion projects and to cover operating costs.
The committee will reconsider the bill sponsored by Sen. Liz Stefanics on Jan. 27.
"Senate Bill 7 represents a creative solution to a persistent problem here in New Mexico … which is an ongoing shortage of providers in our rural areas and the consistent struggles of our rural provider network to keep their doors open to continue providing services to New Mexicans," Kari Armijo, deputy secretary of the Human Services Department, told the New Mexican.