SENATE MEMORIAL 33
47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2006
INTRODUCED BY
James G. Taylor
A MEMORIAL
URGING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HOSPITAL TO HONOR THE LAW AND BINDING CONTRACT TO PROVIDE A MINIMUM OF ONE HUNDRED BEDS FOR NATIVE AMERICAN PATIENTS.
WHEREAS, more than fifty years ago when construction of the university of New Mexico hospital commenced, the United States congress conditioned funding for the county hospital on a commitment to reserve a minimum of one hundred beds for Native American patients in exchange for land; and
WHEREAS, Public Law 81-438, October 31, 1949, as amended by Public Law 85-249, August 31, 1957, is still in effect and it requires that Bernalillo county make available one hundred beds for Native American patients at the hospital built on land taken out of trust for the hospital; and
WHEREAS, in the original contract documents, the Bernalillo county board of commissioners, the state and the board of trustees of the Bernalillo county hospital agreed to guarantee that the hospital would "make available perpetually, when required, not less than one-hundred beds for Indians to provide perpetual general hospital care and medical, surgical and obstetrical care and treatment of the highest medical standard for Indians"; and
WHEREAS, the original contract document stated that it "shall be perpetually binding upon the County, the Trustees and their successors, and any authorized successor operator of the hospital"; and
WHEREAS, the commissioner for Indian affairs reimbursed the county of Bernalillo and later the board of regents of the university of New Mexico for the costs of setting aside the beds since the hospital was built; and
WHEREAS, when the board of regents of the university of New Mexico assumed the federal contract, the board did not repudiate its agreement to reserve the beds for Native American patients; and
WHEREAS, the managing entity of the hospital has received more than fifty years of reimbursements from the Indian health service for the care and treatment of Native American clients; and
WHEREAS, the board of regents of the university of New Mexico has managed the hospital at least since 1968 and accepted payments for the Native American set-aside during the years of its management contract; and
WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico hospital has decided that the one hundred beds it is contracted to reserve "in perpetuity" for Native American patients may be ignored on grounds that it is fulfilling most of the requirements of the public law and binding contract; and
WHEREAS, the university health sciences center, in its defense, has stated "except for the obligation of the university of New Mexico health sciences center to make beds available at the university of New Mexico hospital for the care of Native American patients", the university of New Mexico health sciences center is fulfilling its contract and statutory obligations by providing "access to care and access to financial assistance for that care, for all Indians regardless of their origin, on the same basis as it provides such access to non-Indian patients"; and
WHEREAS, under the reimbursement methodology adopted by the Indian health service, the Indian health service reimburses the university of New Mexico hospital for approximately one-half the cost the hospital incurs each year for providing hospital services to eligible Native Americans; and
WHEREAS, a perpetual requirement to provide services may become a burden over time, but choosing to ignore the requirement does not provide a good faith resolution to the problems that arise due to failure to fulfill the requirement; and
WHEREAS, no one at the university of New Mexico, the university of New Mexico hospital and the university of New Mexico health sciences center seems to recall that the pueblos generously donated the land to the hospital in exchange for future services, to help the general population of Bernalillo county, and this was and remains a business agreement with legal remedies for its breach, as well as a gracious gift for the public good and a legal requirement; and
WHEREAS, it is commendable that the university of New Mexico hospital provides services to Native American patients on the same basis as any other patients, a practice that complies with the United States constitution as well as the constitution of New Mexico, but complying with some of the requirements of a law does not equate to complying with the law; and
WHEREAS, it is difficult to understand why the university of New Mexico board of regents, the university of New Mexico hospital and the university of New Mexico health sciences center are willing to risk the scorn of the community and the damage to the image of those institutions by failing to resolve this issue in a reasoned, benevolent and humane manner;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the university of New Mexico hospital be informed that the state expects its agencies and entities to act both in the spirit of as well as by the letter of the law; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members of the board of regents of the university of New Mexico report to the interim legislative Indian affairs committee by October 2006 its rationale, its legal justification and its ethical obligation and moral responsibility to honor the grant of trust land belonging to the pueblos located in New Mexico for use for a hospital in exchange for the perpetual reservation of beds for Native American patients and its decision to ignore the mandates of the contract that transferred the land out of trust for the state's pueblos and on which the university of New Mexico and the university of New Mexico health sciences center are to this day located; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the board of regents of the university of New Mexico, the chair of the Indian affairs committee, the management of the university of New Mexico health sciences center and the university of New Mexico hospital, the Bernalillo county board of county commissioners and the chair of the all Indian pueblo council.
- 5 -