HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 85

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Keith J. Gardner

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO FORM A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE GROWING NEED FOR PRIMARY CARE PRACTITIONERS IN RURAL AND MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED PARTS OF THE STATE AND TO DEVELOP OPTIONS TO ADDRESS THAT NEED.

     WHEREAS, access to primary health care services is the foundation of an effective health care system; and

     WHEREAS, currently, more than twenty percent of New Mexicans have no health insurance, thus inhibiting their access to primary and other health care services; and

     WHEREAS, even New Mexicans with health insurance may experience difficulty obtaining a primary health care provider and receiving primary health care services due to shortages of primary care practitioners, especially in rural and underserved areas of the state; and

     WHEREAS, according to the New Mexico health policy commission's 2008 report, HM2: State Funded Primary Care Residency Slots, New Mexico is currently facing a critical shortage of primary care health care professionals; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico health policy commission reported that, in 2006 in New Mexico, there were one and ninety-four hundredths physicians per one thousand population, while the national average was two and eighty hundredths physicians per one thousand population, placing New Mexico well below the national average; and

     WHEREAS, it is estimated by the association of American medical colleges that the aging of the population combined with general population growth will result in a significantly increased demand for primary care physicians by the year 2020; and

     WHEREAS, nationally, one-third of all physicians are over the age of fifty-five and are likely to retire by the year 2020; and

     WHEREAS, currently, approximately twenty percent of the total primary health care provider work force in New Mexico are non-physician providers, including nurse practitioners, physician assistants and nurse midwives; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico health resources, a public-private partnership agency responsible for recruitment and retention of health care professionals in the state, reports that as of November 2008, it was actively recruiting for two hundred forty-three primary care physicians, thirty-seven nurse practitioners and thirty-two physician assistants; and

     WHEREAS, as the state and the nation move toward coverage of one hundred percent of their citizens, the disparities between the number of practicing, full-time primary care physicians and the need for such physicians will be exacerbated; and

     WHEREAS, nurse practitioners, midwives and physician assistants are vital components of the health care delivery system, providing primary care services in rural and underserved areas of the state as well as in urban areas; and

     WHEREAS, often a nurse practitioner or physician assistant is the only primary health care provider in those rural and underserved areas of the state; and

     WHEREAS, ensuring an adequate supply of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in rural and underserved areas of the state is vital to addressing the serious work force shortages that exist in those areas;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of health be requested to form a task force to study the growing need for primary care practitioners in rural and medically underserved parts of the state and to develop options to address that need; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include representation from the New Mexico health policy commission; an association representing nurse practitioners in the state; an association representing physician assistants in the state; the New Mexico medical board; an association representing physicians; the university of New Mexico health sciences center; the university of New Mexico school of medicine; other institutions of higher learning that offer programs to train and educate physicians and either nurse practitioners or physician assistants; the New Mexico telehealth commission; and others; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the findings and recommendations of the task force be presented to the interim legislative health and human services committee at its November 2009 meeting; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of health and to the New Mexico health policy commission.

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