A new senior center has been on the Gallup City Council’s priority list for a while now, but things are finally moving in the right direction.

At the Jan. 16 and 30 city council meetings, the council accepted large amounts of funding from the State of New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department.

Both amounts came from a Capital Appropriation Project Grant, with the first amount coming out to just over $4.5 million. The council approved that on Jan. 16, and another grant that totaled almost $7.5 million on Jan. 30.

During the meetings the city’s Planning and Development Manager C.B. Strain said that the money is meant to help plan, design, construct, equip, and furnish the...

The road back to financial and operational health for Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital is long and filed with challenges, but management is taking steps on a path of incremental change that will affect staffing, vendor contracts and eventually management.

Interim CEO Bill Patten is excited about measures the hospital’s board approved in its Jan. 31 meeting.  Adding those to his ongoing efforts to reduce supply and service costs – which he has so far done to the tune of $38,000 a month – he hopes to get the hospital operating at break even on a day-to-day basis by May or June.

The hospital will begin a search for a Chief Operations Officer, a new position. The search...

It’s not just Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital that’s struggling to stay afloat. Small, rural hospitals across the state and the country are in the same boat, trying to keep up financially with their metro counterparts.

To try to fill the gap in New Mexico, legislators have introduced some bills this legislative session that would primarily help the state’s seven smallest hospitals, including RMCH.

Some offer short-term relief; at least one could improve the financial footing for small hospitals for the long term. Local officials are holding their collective breath to see which bills will pass.

What follows is a roundup of hospital rescue bills and their status at press...

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The 25th Navajo Nation Council joined Navajo Nation President Dr. Buu Nygren on Jan. 31 as he signed Resolution CJA-11-24, appropriating nearly $6 million from the Unreserved, Undesignated Fund Balance to help Navajo communities recover from the impacts of recent winter snow and mud conditions.

Legislation 0027-24 appropriates $3.85 million for the 110 chapters and approximately $2.1 million to the Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management. Nygren requested the special council session held on Jan. 31, to consider the emergency legislation along with language to allow $35,000 to be distributed to each of the 110 chapters.

“Thank you, President Nygren, and...