Doctors, nurses, and local residents filled the air with tearful and impassioned testimonials when they met to talk about patient care and employee treatment at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services at a community town hall Oct. 2.

The estimated 100 in-person attendees and 100 online attendees were joined by Mayor Louis Bonaguidi and Dist. 1 City Councilor Linda Garcia at the First United Methodist Church at 1800 Redrock Dr., #7000.

Prior to the event, RMCHCS interim CEO Don Smithburg made it clear that he would not be  present and no one from the hospital would be, either. He said he considered the town hall to be a union-sponsored event, backed by the Union of American...

CEO does not dispute the result

Only a day before the emotional town hall meeting that highlighted many disappointments with the current administration at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services, a ray of hope arrived for some in the form of a vote.

A vote count of the doctors who wanted to join a union was taken by the National Labor Relations Board Oct. 1 over Zoom. Twenty-four doctors cast their ballots and the majority voted to join the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, a union with offices in California and Washington State which represents physicians, dentists, health practitioners and professionals all over the country.

The precise number of votes is not being...

Applications open Oct. 12 for $1.4 million

New Mexico has appropriated $5 million to provide financial relief from the hardships caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The money will be used to offer a one-time cash assistance payment to qualifying New Mexico residents.

The New Mexico Human Services Department will begin accepting applications for economic relief assistance from New Mexico residents who did not qualify for federal pandemic stimulus payments and did not receive a July 2021 State of New Mexico economic relief payment, on Oct. 12.

Payments will be provided to low-income households based on funding availability. An initial round of payments was issued in July...

McKinley County commissioners spent part of the Oct. 5 meeting considering how to help Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services deal with some of its financial issues.

The use of mill levy funds came up as a way to provide relief. A mill levy is a tax rate that is applied to an assessed value of a property.

In a previous interview with the Sun, McKinley County Attorney Doug Decker said the hospital had previously used the tax money they received for operational costs, maintenance, and repair.

Now the hospital administration has asked if the funds can be used to help with payroll.

The commissioners approved the requested change with the stipulation that the hospital would...