NM congresswomen want to increase the number of medical students trained in tribal communities
Nov. 7—Two New Mexico congresswomen are sponsoring legislation to put $4 million annually toward expanding Indian Health Service to train more health care providers in Native American communities.
The Rural Providers Indian Health Services Act, sponsored by Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., would establish a formal office for graduate medical students within Indian Health Service, which would oversee existing residency and fellowship programs within IHS and create new training programs. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., cosponsored the bill.
"We know here in New Mexico that we are facing an acute health care shortage, and that crosses every single community, but that shortage is felt especially acutely in our tribal and (Indigenous) communities," Stansbury said.
IHS serves 33 states and 2.2 million people. The legislation's goal is to create a pipeline for future health care professionals in Native American communities.
It would build on an existing University of New Mexico residency program in Shiprock. After an initial year at the University of New Mexico Hospital, a few family medicine residents in the UNM program spend two years at the northern Navajo Medical Center. There is also a larger group of residents who rotate through IHS for about a month.
Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education Dr. Lanier Lopez said the university is thrilled by the legislation because it would make it easier to collaborate with IHS on placing residents. New Mexico has a health care crisis that will continue to grow over the next 10 to 15 years, Lopez said.
"We know that when residents and fellows have experiences in particular communities that they're inspired, and they want to maintain those connections, and the likelihood of those trainees returning to those communities, or similar communities, maybe in their home states, increases," Lopez said.
The bill was introduced at the end of October and has been referred to the committees on Natural Resources and Energy and Commerce. Along with Stansbury and Leger Fernández, the bill has two Democratic cosponsors, Rep. Raúl Grijalva from Arizona and Rep. Chellie Pingree from Maine.
"This legislation will help address critical clinical shortages by creating a pipeline of well-trained, culturally competent providers for our tribal communities," Leger Fernández said in a statement. "We know longstanding vacancies have a negative effect on patient access, quality of care and employee morale."
"This is not only about quality of life and health care as a human right but also about the federal government's trust and treaty responsibilities to our tribal nations," Stansbury said.
