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

SPONSOR Martinez, W.K.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

HB 97

SHORT TITLE NMSU Grant Nursing Clinical Lab

SB

ANALYST Escudero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$50.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

New Mexico State University – Grants (NMSU-Grants)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 97 appropriates $50.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New Mexico

State University for a Nursing Clinical Laboratory at the Grants campus.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $50.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall revert to the

general fund.

This request supports a submittal by NMSU-Grants to the New Mexico Higher Education

Department for review through the Rural Health Care Allied Health program, but is not included

in the Departments funding recommendation for FY09.

The HED’s evaluation table of FY09 Research and Public Service Projects provided to the LFC

classifies this project as a “breach" of the Higher Education Formula. Reasons for this

House Bill 97 – Page

2

classification decision are not provided. (LFC Report 07-20, Higher Education Department

Review of Selected Research and Public Service Projects, January 12, 2008, Table 4, p74.)

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

•

As stated by HED, the NMSU-Grants nursing program began its inaugural year during

the academic year 07-08 with 5 students. The nursing program is in its early stages of

development as evidenced by NMSU-Grants investing in a building renovation to

house the future nursing clinical laboratory. The nursing clinical laboratory will be a

major component of the nursing program. Within the nursing lab there will be a SIM lab

which is a state of the art lab that allows students to develop their skills on mannequins

prior to being exposed to a hospital setting.

•

NMSU-Grants has developed an industry partnership with the local Cibola General

Hospital who committed five-years of funding support to hire a Masters of Science in

Nursing Clinical Director to supervise a cohort of Bachelor Science Nursing

(BSN) students on the Grants campus. Instruction for the BSN program will emanate

from the NMSU Las Cruces campus, utilizing existing resources and technology to

provide expanded access for nursing instruction in north-west New Mexico via distance

education.

•

One of the primary goals of this initiative is to strive to increase the number of under-

represented minorities entering health professional programs (2000). With a majority-

minority student population, 37% Native American and 33% Hispanic, NMSU-Grants

will help to build the supply of Allied Health professionals.

•

The American Hospital Association estimates vacancy rates of 18% for radiological

technologists and 12% for laboratory technologists through the year 2010 (Palmer, 2003).

Students who graduate from Allied Health Programs with an Associates of Science

degree will have access to employment both locally, regionally and nationally. Rural

areas are challenged with finding adequately trained Allied Health technologists yet

provide excellent employment options and excellent salaries for Allied Health workers.

According to NMSU-Grants, expanding opportunities in rural health care through the Allied

Health Professions in Cibola County encompasses the development, implementation and

eventual planned for institutionalization of the first Allied Health Program at NMSU-Grants.

Completion of an Allied Health program would culminate in the awarding of an Associate of

Science in one of two potential Allied Health fields, i.e. Emergency Medical

Technology/Paramedic, or Medical Technology. The completion of the AS in Allied Health

degree at NMSU-Grants will prepare students for one of two tracks:

1.

Careers as technologists in health care organizations in the region or articulation into

baccalaureate degree programs at New Mexico 4-year institutions.

2.

Rural health care systems throughout New Mexico provide excellent employment

opportunities in Allied Health areas for students.

PME/jp