Our Work
The Time is Now to Strengthen Our Healthcare System
New Mexico’s patients are in peril. A mother and her unborn child were killed in an accident while she was driving 65 miles from Las Vegas, New Mexico to Santa Fe to access prenatal care. Her local clinic was shut down due to a lack of providers. A young couple in Albuquerque sought a specialist after their two-year-old son was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, only to be told no doctor in the state knew how to treat it. They were forced to seek care elsewhere.
These are poignant examples of the countless ways New Mexico residents are battling an urgent health care crisis: physician shortages. Doctors and other health care professionals are leaving the state in record numbers. We are the only state in the nation that has lost physicians every single year since 2019—a staggering net loss of 248 doctors. As a result, entire communities are left without providers in fields like obstetrics, primary care, and mental health, in addition to facing long wait times for appointments if they can find care.
Skyrocketing malpractice insurance costs and low Medicaid reimbursement rates make it both difficult and expensive for doctors to work here. In fact, New Mexico ranks as the second worst state for physician shortages. Without any change to the system, the situation is expected to grow even more dire: over the next few years, experts predict that the doctor shortage rate will double.
At Patient First New Mexico, we believe that this crisis presents a powerful opportunity and that real solutions are within reach. We cannot afford to lose another doctor, another nurse, another clinic. Our communities deserve better.
Patients’ bold voices and urgent needs are the driving force behind Patient First New Mexico’s mission. We’re putting the power into the hands of locals to create awareness, build consensus, engage with our representatives, and change policy to ensure that every New Mexican receives the timely, life-changing care they deserve.
Other states have shown that patient-centered reforms work to increase access, strengthen care, and restore trust. Let’s rise together to build a healthier state for current and future generations of New Mexicans.
The time is now.
Patients
Patients are struggling to access timely, high-quality healthcare, facing long wait times, provider shortages, and limited services. They’re afraid that their families can’t access the care they need when they need it most or will have to travel hundreds of miles out of state to find it.
Patient First New Mexico hears you. We’re putting the power into your hands to create awareness, build consensus, engage with your representatives, and change policy to ensure that every New Mexican—no matter who they are or where they live—receives the timely, life-changing care they deserve. Join us now.
Providers
Providers are overworked, understaffed, struggling with high malpractice insurance rates, and battling with Medicaid and Medicare for approvals and reimbursement. This isn’t why doctors went to medical school. The patient-doctor relationship is sacred, and providers want to be able to help people. They are looking for jobs in other states with better healthcare policies in order to uphold their commitment to patients.
Patient First New Mexico hears you and will collaborate with you to create better policies to support healthcare workers. We want you to stay and also to attract more clinicians to the state. We believe that New Mexico has an opportunity to lead a healthcare transformation to build a system that truly serves patients, providers, and every community in our small villages, towns, and cities.