The UNM Board of Regents expressed concern and disagreement this past Friday morning over further cuts to Health Sciences Center (HSC) programs.
Faculty, professors and several students were present for just over two hours in the Student Union Building to hear out programs, approvals and nominations across the University.
Paul Roth, chief executive officer of HSC and dean of the School of Medicine, introduced a new approach to budgeting used successfully by many universities across the country called the Responsibility Centered Management Model, for HSC.
Through effective use of the model, significant tuition cuts in the next year will severely impact HSC across the board, including the School of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, College of Population Health and Inter-professional Education.
Roth’s presentation was greeted with concern. The first regent to comment was Suzanne Quillen, the board’s most experienced voice in health care.
Quillen, who has a vast history as a health care professional, said nursing is the fourth largest occupation in Albuquerque.
As the CEO of the Advanced Care Hospital of Southern New Mexico, a registered nurse and nurse practitioner, Quillen said she understands the shortage and strong demand statewide.
This shortage has also been affecting other crucial areas of health care.
“Physical therapy is the same way,” Quillen said. “In southern New Mexico, they’re offering $20,000 sign-on bonuses because there is such a shortage of physical therapists.”
New Mexico and many other states across the country are facing a dangerous future, she said.
Quillen referenced a highly respected study conducted last year, in which the U.S. Registered Nurse Workforce Report gave states a letter grade based on how they were doing to meet this deficit in our state.
“New Mexico was given an F. Twelve states were given an F, and we were one of them,” she said.
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The grading scale used to grade each state is the Registered Nurse shortage ratio, Quillen said, which is the difference between demand and supply of RN jobs per 100,000 people.
According to this study, New Mexico is amongst a handful of states that have been experiencing a shortage of nurses since 2009. This shortage will increase and demand will continue to grow desperately till at least 2030.
“There is a huge shortage of nurses. That is absolutely true,” Roth said. “This [RCM] will help our ability to increase the workforce and provide more nurses for the state of New Mexico.”
Roth said the key to institutional success is, “the integration of operational planning with strategic-planning and individual performance plans.”
Roth has been a presence in the medicine field for decades, including being one of the first to come up with the term “Urgent Care,” but in March, changes were made to Roth’s contract with HSC, removing some authority over “finances, staff and legal matters,” until approved by UNM President Bob Frank.
He remains CEO of HSC and reassured the board of his legitimacy.
“I’ve been doing this now for 22 years and we’ve managed quite well in the process that we’ve had,” he said.
Chaouki Abdallah, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, responded by referencing his experiences in making hefty cuts to benefit the University’s faculty, students and community, while keeping programs afloat.
“I don’t share optimism that this is temporary," Abdallah said. “We are not able to do the same things that we have done before.”
Roth said he can empathize with both returning and new concerns.
“Nobody is wrong in any of the statements I’ve heard today,” he said.
Frank agreed with Abdallah, saying he believes the situation is going to get worse before it can get better.
“I don’t think it’s gonna get better, I think it’s gonna get worse,” he said.
Frank said he understands there are cuts that must be made each year, but there are bigger issues at play.
“What we talk to you all about every year is that higher education is changing,” Frank said. “There are cataclysmic changes in health care and these things are all coming together and we have to do business very differently.”
Sarah Trujillo is a reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
