New Mexico's rural hospitals suffer amid COVID-19 pandemic, congress looks to provide aid

Rural hospitals across the U.S. could be at a high risk of closures as the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the country and local healthcare facilities focused on testing and treating the virus. 

At Carlsbad Medical Center (CMC) elective surgeries were postponed, along with inpatient diagnostics.

The hospital also reduced hours at primary care and specialty clinics, meaning the hospital is seeing less patients than normal, said Melissa Suggs, spokesperson for CMC.

CMC began offering primary care and specialist visits through virtual appointments and telehealth, Suggs said.

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“We are carefully managing staffing, flexing schedules, encouraging staff whose roles have changed to take vacation, and reassigning personnel to other areas of the hospital,” she said.

“These temporary actions are necessary to protect staff and to ensure ongoing readiness to care for COVID-19 patients in the event that we see a surge in cases in our area.”

A spokesperson for Artesia General Hospital did not respond to a request for comment from the Carlsbad Current-Argus.

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The already tepid economic state of rural hospitals in the U.S. could be made worse by the pandemic, as many suspend primary operations in favor of testing for and treating the virus.

A report from Guidehouse said that a quarter of rural hospitals were at high risk of closing nationwide, ahead of the pandemic, including 345 at-risk hospitals in 40 states with more than 222,350 annual discharges and 51,800 workers.

Of the at-risk facilities, 81 percent or 287 were considered “highly essential” to their communities, the report read.

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Three of New Mexico’s 10 rural hospitals were considered “at risk,” per the data, representing 1,481 annual patient discharges and 463 employees.

All three were considered “essential” to their communities, the report read.

It was unclear which specific hospitals were reflected in the data. 

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Dave Mosley, a partner at Guidehouse said rural hospitals not only provide essential healthcare to residents but are also often a major employer in rural communities.

He said the strains on operations caused by the pandemic could intensify the threat to many such facilities.

"Rural hospitals are not only essential to the health and wellness of nearby residents, they are often a rural county's largest employer and a crucial economic link for other local businesses and job creators," Mosley said.

"It was already troubling that the economic outlook for rural hospitals deteriorated during the longest period of uninterrupted economic growth our country has ever experienced. A major crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic or any significant economic downturn is likely to make the situation even more dire."

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To respond to the impending impact on rural hospitals, U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small joined a national coalition of congresspeople aiming to establish a “Rural COVID-19 Task Force” that would help identify rural challenges and make subsequent policy recommendations and oversee funding distribution.

The group wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue to urge the federal administration to establish such a group.

“All of America is hurting right now, but many rural communities are hurting in silence,” Torres Small said.

“Since the start of this public health emergency, I’ve fought for funding in rural areas, support for our nation’s farmers, and aid to our struggling rural health care facilities.  However, much of this relief still hasn’t reached rural residents or their communities.”

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Torres Small said rural hospitals were struggling amid the pandemic and were in need of federal support, along with the agriculture industry and public education.

“Rural hospitals fight tooth and nail to keep their doors open to serve patients, dairy farmers are running out of money to feed their cows, and kids are trying to homeschool with no internet access,” she said. “Today, I join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to demand federal accountability to our rural communities and call on (U.S. Department of Agriculture) to establish a Rural COVID-19 Task Force.”

In the letter, congresspeople warned the federal government that the spread of COVID-19 into rural communities was “misjudged,” pointing to at least one confirmed case reported in more than 60 percent of rural counties across the nation as of April 6, with 10 percent of those counties reporting at least one death.

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They called on more resources such as federal funds or medical equipment to be distributed to rural areas to help combat the spread of the virus.

“These challenges require Congress and the Department of Agriculture to take immediate action. That means – first and foremost – listening to rural leaders and citizens about the challenges they face, allowing them a forum to raise the issues that they have identified as being the most pressing,” the letter read.

“Second, it means providing administrative flexibilities and resources to address those challenges. And lastly, it means making certain that the resources provided are being distributed in an equitable way to meet rural needs.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.