Community Coalition for Health Care Access
1028
Ann SW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87105 505-315-0546
For Release Nov. 17, 2004
CONTACT: Alma Oliva at 315-0546
Gail Evans at 255-2840
Suit on Behalf of Coalition Seeks Public Info from UNMH
Albuquerque – While University Hospital is breaking ground on a $200 million expansion; the Community Coalition for Healthcare Access is demanding public information to ensure the growing uninsured population’s access to the public hospital.
On Tuesday, the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty filed a complaint in District Court, on behalf of the Coalition, seeking public information on how the Hospital spends its tax dollars, how much it spends on health care for uninsured residents, the quality and quantity of interpretation services, its bill collection practices as well as accreditation and customer satisfaction surveys.
“Breaking down the barriers to access to health care at UNM Hospital requires us to analyze where the tax money is going, who’s getting interpretation services and who is not and how well the hospital is serving our community,” said Alma Olivas, spokeswoman for the Coalition and a community health advocate. “We’ve got to clear this cloud of secrecy with some accountability.”
The Center, on behalf of the Coalition, has submitted four written requests for specific public information over the past year. These requests are in addition to verbal requests made by the coalition since its formation in 2000. UNM Hospital administrators have released some documents, but not what the coalition has requested to allow for a public assessment of the hospital’s responsiveness to the community it serves, given its finances.
“The hospital is breaking the law by keeping this information from the public. We want to know how our public hospital is spending our tax dollars and how well the hospital is serving poor people,” said Attorney Gail Evans, of the Center on Law and Poverty, a Coalition member organization.
Hospital administrators have cited patient confidentiality, among other reasons, for denial of the records. However, the Center is not requesting confidential patient information and never has.
The Hospital also has said it does not keep separate track of the Bernalillo County mill levy ($62 million in 2003) after it is deposited into the hospital’s operating budget. But Coalition members assert that taxpayers have a right to know how their tax dollars are spent and to have a say in the decisions.
"The Coalition supports the $200 million hospital expansion so long as uninsured, low-income families and workers in our state and county have access to the whole hospital, and not just the emergency room,” said Dr. Andru Ziwasimon, a family practice physician and member of the coalition. “Part of making sure that happens is allowing public participation in looking at the hospital’s finances and decisions about who gets access and who is being turned away.”
The Coalition launched its access campaign in April 2003 with town hall forums and began negotiations with hospital administrators shortly afterward. Those negotiations stalled this month, a little under a year after the hospital’s last major concession – a reduction in the amount uninsured, low-income residents must pay for treatment approximately equal to what Medicaid pays. The hospital calls the reduction a “discount,” but the Coalition considers it a fair price.
The Coalition is still seeking, through community education and mobilization, to remove other barriers to health care access, including replacing the 50% upfront payment required of uninsured patients with a fair, sliding fee scale or the ability to make payments.
The Coalition also is demanding adequate translation and interpretation services for non-English proficient members of our community, including speakers of native languages, Vietnamese and Spanish.
For specifics of the Inspection of Public Records Act request, please seek the complaint attached or call the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, at 255-2840.
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