New Mexico hospitals seek new financial support

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Hospital executives are urging New Mexico’s governor to sign off on health care spending proposals that would devote $171 million to shoring up labor costs at hospitals and nursing homes. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has until March 9 to vet a $8.5 billion spending plan from the Democratic-led Legislature for the fiscal year starting on July 1. In a public letter to the governor on Thursday, the New Mexico Hospital Association describes financial and physical strain of the pandemic on hospital staff that has left nursing staffs depleted. The governor also is weighing endorsement of a $1,000 personal income tax credit for resident nurses.