Attorney General Raúl Torrez yesterday announced that he’s launching an investigation into Memorial Medical Center, in Las Cruces. He said that the state Department of Justice has started looking into allegations that the hospital has denied medical services to patients in violation of New Mexico law.
DOJ officials say that Initial reports indicate that the hospital may have denied care or required full, upfront payments from several uninsured or Medicaid-eligible patients.
If proven, these actions may constitute violations of the Unfair Practices Act, the New Mexico Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act, and the New Mexico Patients’ Debt Collection Protection Act.
One of the cancer patients who says she was denied care even though she pays $800 a month for insurance was Barbara Quarrell, who had earlier worked as a nurse for eight years at Memorial Medical Center.
“I would never ever in a million years refer someone to MMC,” Quarrell said. “I feel like the level of care has gone down. There is not enough staff for the patient ratio, and it’s just an unsafe place to be now.”
Quarrell said at yesterday’s news conference that she wound up going to Albuquerque for treatment. AG Torrez said the same was true of many others who were refused treatment.
“I think it violates potentially New Mexico law,” Torrez said. “But it violates something even more profound in our community, and that is an expectation that we do what we can to help.”
According to the Las Cruces Bulletin, hospital officials issued a statement yesterday afternoon in response, saying that the announcement took them by surprise. They also said that they would cooperate fully with the investigation.