SENATE BILL 261

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025

INTRODUCED BY

Pete Campos and Anita Gonzales

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC HEALTH; CREATING THE HUB-AND-SPOKE PILOT PROJECT AS A FIVE-YEAR PILOT PROJECT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO DELIVER PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE SERVICES AT PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN UNDERSERVED AREAS OF THE STATE; DEFINING TERMS; PROVIDING FOR PROJECT GOALS AND PARAMETERS; ASSIGNING DUTIES; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] HUB-AND-SPOKE PILOT PROJECT.--

          A. As used in this section:

                (1) "cooperative care team" mean a preventive health care provider team that consists of a licensed school nurse, a licensed primary care provider, a licensed behavioral health care provider, a certified athletic trainer and a certified community health care worker;

                (2) "department" means the department of health;

                (3) "hub-and-spoke care model" means a health care delivery network in which a comprehensive primary care clinic serves as the hub of the network and satellite facilities or mobile services serve as the spokes of the network;

                (4) "preventive health care" means services to prevent or detect illness, disease and other health problems or stop or slow the progression of those health problems and includes screenings and checkups, sports physicals, mental health counseling and case management; and

                (5) "project" means the hub-and-spoke pilot project.

          B. The "hub-and-spoke pilot project" is created as a five-year pilot project in the department to study the feasibility of delivering preventive health care at public schools in underserved areas of the state through a hub-and- spoke care model and to measure how access to preventive health care influences student health and academic outcomes and public health more broadly.

          C. The project shall be implemented in the department's northeast region; the hub shall be a federally qualified health center in San Miguel county; the spokes shall be public schools in at least five school districts; and preventive health care shall be provided by a cooperative care team at all participating public schools.

          D. The department shall:

                (1) contract for services with a federally qualified health center;

                (2) collect and compile data regarding student health and academic outcomes and public health implications related to the project;

                (3) collaborate with the public education department, which shall assist the department in measuring student academic outcomes; and

                (4) report periodically on the project's implementation to the legislative health and human services committee and provide a final report to the governor and the legislature by November 1, 2030.

     SECTION 2. APPROPRIATION.--One million seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($1,750,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the department of health for expenditure in fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to implement and administer the hub-and-spoke pilot project. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2030 shall revert to the general fund.

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