To the Editor:

The Community Health Action Group (CHAG) is cautiously optimistic about the recent developments at RMCHCS, including the hiring of a new CEO, Robert Whitaker, and the County’s initial commitment to ensure increased transparency and accountability by the Board of Trustees.

We look forward to working with Mr. Whitaker to rebuild the community’s trust in RMCH.

However, it is still gravely concerning that management of the hospital has been wholly outsourced to CHC Consulting, with the CEO, CFO, CNO and Director of Human Resources all being employed by CHC.

Since taking over the hospital 1.5 years ago, CHC has not prioritized community needs, patient safety, or staff...

“Risk can be a hard concept to calculate, remember, it is not a calculated risk if you haven’t calculated it.” - Lawrence Castillo



‘Layin’ it on the line’

In the 2009-2010 NFC Championship Game, the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints were tied 28-28 late in the fourth quarter, with the Vikings close to field goal range. Vikings quarterback Brett Favre took the snap, rolled to his right, and saw about 30 yards of open field in front of him. Even though he had injured his leg in the third quarter, all Favre had to do was lurch forward for 10 yards, fall down, and have a first-and-10 inside field goal range.

Instead, Favre reverted to what has made him a...

As proud New Mexicans, we know our state has the best scenery and natural beauty in the nation. While we want to keep it that way, that’s hard to when our landscape is dotted with old, pollution-spewing orphaned oil wells.

With New Mexico being the second largest oil-producing state in the country, we’ve been stuck with a multitude of orphaned wells. When the companies who drilled and profited from the wells don’t take responsibility for capping and cleaning them, the rest of us end up footing the bill.

The federal government is distributing money for orphaned well cleanup from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will be a big help. But funding the cleanup of...

Here are a few things to consider

“Planning to retire? Be sure you have your exit plan in place and remember, when you retire, you never have a day off.” - Lawrence Castillo



‘Layin’ it on the line’

Retirement is not likely to look anything like your parents’ retirement. The economic impact of government actions related to the pandemic, inflation caused by loose monetary policy, and stock market volatility have created craters in even the best-laid retirement plans. Many Americans are considering taking the money and running, opting for early retirement.

Joel a long-haul trucker, says he was initially going to wait another five years before retiring. “Dealing with...