The University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences has announced that the UNM Hospital is set to introduce additional funding to increase employee pay. The hospital administration has finalized new contracts with all labor unions at the UNM Hospital’s Lomas campus and initiated discussions with the two labor unions at the UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center (SRMC), a campus of UNM Hospital.
The hospital recently received two injections of funds. The first, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in December, was intended to address long-standing COVID-19-related expenses. The second injection came from Medicaid reimbursements, approved for enhancing programs related to rural health, maternal health, substance use disorder treatments, and increased access to care. According to a press release by UNM Health Sciences, these funds will directly benefit employees in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties through wage increases averaging around 3%, and successful negotiations with labor unions.
In the same press release, Kate Becker, CEO of UNM Hospital, said: "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."
Jamie Silva-Steele, president of UNM SRMC- A Campus of UNM Hospital also expressed her excitement about this positive development for their staff in a statement quoted by the press release from UNM Health Sciences. She said: "This is just one example of the many positive benefits of integration. With SRMC now under UNM Hospital, our teams are already benefiting."
According to information provided on its webpage by UNM itself, The University of New Mexico Hospital is the sole academic health center in New Mexico and serves as the main teaching hospital for the UNM School of Medicine. The hospital has achieved the prestigious 2021 CHIME Digital Health Most Wired recognition.
