Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Picraux

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/8/06

HB 655

SHORT TITLE UNM Arts-in-Medicine Program

SB

ANALYST Lewis

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

25.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 655 appropriates $25,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the Uni-

versity of New Mexico to support the Arts-in-Medicine Program, an interdisciplinary initiative

between the University of New Mexico Hospital and its College of Fine Arts.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $25,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to its web site at

http://artsinmedicine.unm.edu/arts_in_medicine.htm

, the mission of the Arts-in-Medicine Pro-

gram is to transform the medical environment and the lives of the people therein by facilitating

creative and artistic encounters for patients and their caregivers.

House Bill 655 – Page

2

Working one-on-one with patients, their families, and medical professionals, the program aims to

encourage participants to stop, examine, and transform the quality of their lives;

provide opportunities to express painful and/or suppressed feelings;

co-create new perspectives on and increased meaning in life;

facilitate positive experiences and heightened self-esteem;

stimulate spiritual expression and;

relieve pain, discomfort, anxiety, restlessness, respiratory difficulties, insomnia, isolation,

depression, withdrawal, loss of speech, grief, and anticipatory grief.

According to the Higher Education Department (HED),

Arts-in-Medicine services are offered

throughout the UNM Health Science Center’s (UNMHSC’s) facilities, including the primary

hospital, the psychiatric center, the cancer center and hospice. The program also offers a service-

learning course that runs hand-in-hand with the UNMHSC clinical program. The course, de-

signed for healthcare professionals, community members, educators, artists and students, ex-

plores connections between creative experiences and physical and mental health.

This appropriation was not on the list of priority projects submitted by UNM or UNMHSC to the

HED for review and was not included in the HED’s funding recommendation for FY07.

ML/nt