It’s been very challenging for hospitals financially across the country, including ours. We are so grateful for how hard our teams have been working to improve our financial situation. We are so proud of our teams for their dedication every day taking care of our patients and their families and providing high quality care.
The first of two infusions of funds came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in December. The funds stem from longstanding claims for COVID-related expenses.
The second pool of funds comes Medicaid reimbursements. The federal government approved a request from the New Mexico Human Services Department to supplement UNM Hospital’s Medicaid reimbursement for new programs that aim to improve rural health, maternal health, substance use disorder treatments and increasing access to care.
“We are very grateful to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Human Services Department for their assistance in helping us obtain this reimbursement,” Becker said.
With these new funds UNM Hospital employees in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties will directly benefit in the following ways:
- All current employees will receive a $600 retention incentive.
- All current employees will receive a wage increase. Different groups are eligible for different increases, but on average, employees should enjoy about a 3% increase.
- All labor unions at UNM Hospital’s Lomas campus have successfully negotiated new contracts.
On January 1, 2024, UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center, Inc. integrated under UNM Hospital’s license. With that acquisition, employees at the facility now known as “UNM SRMC- A Campus of UNM Hospital” have benefitted from the same financial prospects as their peers who work at the Lomas Campus.
“I’m so excited about this good news for our hard-working staff at SRMC,” said Jamie Silva-Steele, President of UNM SRMC- A Campus of UNM Hospital. “This is just one example of the many positive benefits of the integration. With SRMC now under UNM Hospital, our teams are already benefitting.”
Becker, Silva-Steele, and the UNM Health and Health Sciences leadership teams are proud to invest in patient care, providers, staff, teams, and New Mexico’s communities to improve health and access to care.