Legislation that seeks to appropriate $1.1 million to the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion communities to careers program could help address shortages in the healthcare industry in New Mexico, said the bill’s sponsor.

While healthcare provider shortages are a national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, New Mexico’s healthcare provider shortage is particularly acute, especially in rural areas. The OB-GYN shortage has led to the New Mexico Hospital Association and New Mexico Human Services Department to propose establishing a telehealth prenatal and postpartum program for rural patients last fall.

Related: Efforts are underway to create a telehealth prenatal and postpartum service for rural patients

State Rep. Pamelya Herndon, D-Albuquerque, sponsored the bill and defined HB 35 as a “grow your own” program when she spoke to NM Political Report this week. The program isn’t just aimed toward college students and medical school but also provides funding for programs for K-12 to encourage youth to think about careers in the medical profession.

Herndon said one way it can help a high school student is by encouraging that student to start as a licensed practical nurse, or LPN, immediately out of high school. The student can then continue to rise up in the nursing ranks to become a registered nurse, or RN, or move onto medical school to become a doctor, she said.

Dr. Valerie Romero-Leggott, a medical doctor and vice president and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion executive officer at UNM Health Sciences Center, said through email that the programs offer pathways to help diverse K-12 students create an interest in health care careers and build student confidence so that the students realize these professional career paths are attainable for them.

“With New Mexico short thousands of health care workers, it is encouraging to see the New Mexico Legislature consider funding long-standing, dedicated programs that help close that gap and improve health and well-being for our communities,” Romero-Leggott said through email. 

Herndon said she hopes that, ultimately, allocating state funds into the programing will have the long-term impact of helping to address New Mexico’s maternal mortality rate, which is higher than the national average for women of color. 

“Look at [former tennis star] Serena Wiliams. She has a lot of money but she almost died in childbirth,” Herndon said, referring to Black maternal mortality rates.

Nationally, Black and Indigenous women have three and two times higher rates of death caused by pregnancy-related illness, according to a recent report by KFF, a nonprofit source for health policy research and news.

“It’s important to have a diverse group of medical providers to address health,” Herndon said.

Herndon said the bill is also important to help ensure that individuals who have been excluded from professional fields and institutions of higher learning in the past now feel included.

“It’s not that anybody is being excluded but it’s a way of including people who often are excluded,” Herndon said.