ENCOURAGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO APPROPRIATE CONSTRUCTION FUNDS IN THE FISCAL YEAR 2002 INDIAN HEALTH SERVICES BUDGET FOR THE RED MESA HEALTH CENTER AND STAFF QUARTERS PLANNED TO SERVE THE FOUR CORNERS REGION OF THE NAVAJO NATION.

WHEREAS, the Red Mesa health center and staff quarters have been planned since the middle of the 1980s by the Navajo Nation Indian health services to improve access to health care for the ten thousand people residing in northwest New Mexico, southeast Utah and northeast Arizona; and

WHEREAS, the local land users donated seventy-five acres of land at Red Mesa, Arizona for the development of the Red Mesa health center and staff quarters, and the site is the demographic center of the service area; and

WHEREAS, all of the necessary documents, such as legal surveys, environmental assessments, archaeological clearances and other surveys and assessments have been completed and the site has been legally withdrawn by the Navajo Nation for the project; and

WHEREAS, the United States congress appropriated design funds in fiscal year 2000 for the design of the Red Mesa health center, the Indian health services has engaged an architectural firm and the project is currently in the design phase; and

WHEREAS, a construction manager has been employed to oversee the construction of the project once a design is completed and construction funds are appropriated; and

WHEREAS, the Red Mesa health center, when completed, will provide adult and pediatric medical services, diagnosis and laboratory services, short-stay nursing beds and dental, physical therapy and twenty-four-hour emergency care; and

WHEREAS, limited basic outpatient services are currently available at the Indian health services Teecnospos clinic in Arizona and inpatient services are provided at the Indian health services hospital in Shiprock, New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, Indian health services planned the Red Mesa health center with ninety-three units of staff quarters due to the remote nature of the site and because it is recognized that availability of housing is critical for recruitment and retention of medical doctors, nurses and other health professionals on the Navajo Nation, and it is extremely important that the staff quarters be constructed concurrently with the health center to ensure that the clinic will be adequately staffed when it is completed;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the United States congress, through the New Mexico, Arizona and Utah congressional delegations, be urged to appropriate forty-eight million dollars ($48,000,000) in fiscal year 2002 as part of the Indian health services budget for construction of the Red Mesa health center and staff quarters, planned to serve the Four Corners region of the Navajo Nation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted expeditiously to the United States congressional delegations of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah so that the appropriation request can be included in the fiscal year 2002 Indian health services budget.