Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital (RMCH) continues to struggle under huge financial losses, a situation that doesn’t appear as though it will improve any time soon.
Robert Whitaker, the CEO of the hospital located in Gallup, outlined the dire situation during a recent meeting with the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee.
“There are a lot of – there are some services that we just can’t provide the community, and so people need to go travel to Albuquerque for higher acuity, kind of a higher tertiary care,” Whitaker said in the meeting, quoted by KOB 4.
He also explained why the hospital—a 60-bed acute-care facility that normally offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services—decided to temporarily close the labor and delivery unit during the summer: The unit was losing approximately $10,000 per birth.
Tough decisions like that are necessary to keep the hospital from having to shut down completely.
“The hospital is losing $800,000 to $1 million a month, with a projected loss of $24 million for this year alone,” Dr. Connie Liu, a local physician and organizer with the Community Health Action Group, told KOB 4. “We are concerned that quality and safety are dangerously weak.”
She and others in the community are calling for the state to step in.
“We really think that the state may be our best hope for turning the situation around,” Liu said.
The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) issued a statement to KOB 4 saying it is aware of the issues the hospital is facing, but the state cannot assist without legal action.
“The NMDOH continues to monitor Rehoboth McKinley’s ongoing challenges and evaluate any possible next steps,” the department said. “As stated before, receivership is not a normal procedure, and they would need to seek a court order to take any action.”
The hospital also issued a statement to KOB 4.
“As we continue to make incremental improvements, we are focusing their efforts on four areas… improving patient outcomes, enhancing the patient experience, care for the caregiver, and reducing the cost of care,” the hospital said.