Health clinics in schools on budget chopping block

Monique Vallabhan, a certified nurse practitioner, recalls recently treating a student with a headache referred to her by the school nurse at one of Albuquerque’s largest public schools. The student left class to get ibuprofen from the school nurse, which Vallabhan prompted her to conduct a brief checkup. It turns his headache came after his […]

Health clinics in schools on budget chopping block

Monique Vallabhan, a certified nurse practitioner, recalls recently treating a student with a headache referred to her by the school nurse at one of Albuquerque’s largest public schools.

Cindy Maldonado, right, helps coordinate operations at Albuquerque High Schools health clinic.Cindy Maldonado, right, helps coordinate operations at Albuquerque High Schools health clinic.
Cindy Maldonado, right, helps coordinate operations at Albuquerque High School’s health clinic.

The student left class to get ibuprofen from the school nurse, which Vallabhan prompted her to conduct a brief checkup. It turns his headache came after his dad kicked him in the head.

Vallabhan connected him with the school health clinic’s resources, which includes a psychiatrist and a behavioral health therapist.

“If he just took ibuprofen, those kind of things would be missed,” Vallabhan, who coordinates a full health clinic in Albuquerque High School, told NM Political Report in a recent interview.

Another coordinator for the school-based health clinic, Cindy Maldonado, brings up a similar anecdote about how a teacher recently caught a student sleeping in class and sent him to the clinic.

“He’s an honor student, but he was just sleeping in class so she was worried about him,” Maldonado said.

It turned out that the student was having a major problem at home. Without the health clinic in school, Maldonado said the student would have likely had a tougher time getting the help he needed.

The clinic that Vallabhan, Maldonado and a handful of others help operate is one of 53 across the state that offer full healthcare services to students in schools. Each relies on roughly $50,000 each year from the state Department of Health for support—enough to make up 40 percent of the Albuquerque High School clinic’s yearly budget.

And this year, DOH is slated to cut at least $300,000 that go to these type of clinics—enough to fully eliminate state funding for six school-based health centers.

The cuts could increase. DOH is facing $11.7 million in cuts to its entire department this year and has not decided where all the cuts will fall. The department’s funding for school-based health centers comes out of its Public Health Bureau, which “tend to get a large bite” during budget cuts that “tend to trickle down,” according to Nancy Rodriguez, executive director of New Mexico Alliance for School-Based Health Care.

“Nobody is living by DOH funding alone,” Rodriguez said.

Albuquerque High School’s clinic, for example, is largely funded and run by the University of New Mexico. But she adds that state funding “keeps them in the black in some cases.”

“Which is why if they lose it, they will have to close or turn children away,” Rodriguez said.

Two spokesmen for DOH didn’t return calls or emails for this story before press time. Nor did a spokesman for Gov. Susana Martinez, who has the power to line-item veto the $300,000 in cuts written into the state budget for fiscal year 2017 that currently sits before her desk.

But during a year that saw state revenues drop after sharp oil and gas price declines, school-based health centers are just one of many public programs slated for the chopping block. Despite the budget realities, critics point what they see as the state’s misplaced priorities, such as this year’s funding increases for the Department of Corrections and a lack of coming up with new ways to secure state funding.

Meanwhile, New Mexico ranked 49th in the nation in childhood well-being by the Annie E. Casey Foundation for the past two years in a row.

“The whole budget was a disaster,” state Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, said in a recent interview.

Ortiz y Pino, who chairs the interim Health and Human Services Committee, laments how little measures to increase state revenue were considered during the recently adjourned 30-day legislative session.

“All that was done was trimming,” he said.

State funding for school-based health centers saw its biggest increases during Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration. But they started seeing cuts during the beginning of the economic downturn in 2010 and haven’t recovered to pre-recession levels since then, even when oil and gas prices pushed the budget upwards in recent years.

More funding for school-based health centers usually leads to more student visits. An increase in state funding from $2.5 million in 2014 to $3 million in 2015, for example, led to a statewide spike from 43,000 visits throughout the state to nearly 49,000 visits, according to state data.

Albuquerque High School’s clinic sees roughly 5,000 student visits a year. But even current levels of funding aren’t enough to keep from some school-based health centers creating waiting lists to deal with the high demand. Currently 24 students at Albuquerque High School are on the waiting list to receive behavioral health care.

Because cuts for programs like school-based health cares are relatively small compared to other parts of the budget, they’re more likely to go under the radar. But that doesn’t mean they won’t be felt.

Adolescents are one of the least-likely demographics to seek out healthcare for three main reasons, according to Vallabhan—a lack of transportation, having to miss school to go to an appointment and their parents’ likelihood of missing work to bring them to a doctor’s appointment.

Clinics in rural settings, such as the Region IX Education Cooperative’s school-based clinic in Ruidoso, may feel a bigger impact. The clinic in Ruidoso serves five school districts in Lincoln County and relies on 85 percent of its funding from the state, according to Program Director Brenda Motley-Lopez.

“If they take those dollars away we may not be able to function as well, if at all,” she said.

Motley-Lopez estimates that her clinic, which employs three full-time behavioral health specialists who each spend one day out of the week providing care in one of the outlying school district, served 160 students for behavioral health issues alone in January.

Much of Region IX’s clientele, she said, are undocumented immigrants lacking health insurance.  Less funding would mean less appointments for students.

“We’re hurting these kids by taking these dollars away,” Motley-Lopez said.

Another reason cuts to programs like these fly under the radar is because the type of care school-based health clinics focus on don’t necessarily translate to short-term cost savings. Albuquerque High School’s clinic, for example, gives each student a comprehensive health risk assessment every year based on guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“It’s everything from, ‘How many fruits and vegetables do you eat?’ to ‘Do you feel safe?’ to ‘Do you have sex and is it protected or not?’” Carol Pierce, program manager for Envision New Mexico, which focuses on child health care, told NM Political Report.

Vallabhan points to childhood obesity, which makes up nearly 13 percent of the state’s youth, as a problem school-based health centers can help resolved now.

“If we don’t address their health maintenance issues and risk issues at this time, we are going to be in a big huge problem when they become adults,” she said.

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

A New Mexico-based LGBTQ rights organization endorsed 15 candidates for state House and Senate seats for the 2024 elections.  Marshall Martinez, executive director of…
Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…
Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republican-backed legislation in the U.S. Congress would make it harder for the government to designate new national monuments. The proposed Congressional Oversight of the…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News Four years after hospitals in New York City overflowed with covid-19 patients, emergency physician Sonya Stokes remains shaken by…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid announced on Wednesday that it will cover the cost of Opill, the first oral contraception approved for over-the-counter use. It is…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

The Navajo Nation and San Juan County reached an agreement Monday about commission districts after the tribe alleged that its members were not adequately…
MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

New Mexico’s 2022 election was ranked most well-run in the country by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Data and Science Lab’s Elections Performance Index.…
Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report