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Haaland Tours Rural New Mexico Hospital, Highlights Medicaid and Health Care Challenges
Native Vote 2026
Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), the Democratic nominee for governor of New Mexico, visited Presbyterian Española Hospital on Sunday, where she toured health care facilities and participated in a roundtable discussion with hospital leadership and health care professionals.
Haaland’s visit began at the hospital’s Addiction Medicine clinic, which was converted from the facility’s former emergency department. She then toured Presbyterian’s mobile clinics, which provide routine care, wellness visits and immunizations to communities in the region.
The visit concluded with a roundtable discussion focused on the challenges facing rural hospitals, including the potential effects of Medicaid cuts on health care services and access.
“I am grateful for the services that Presbyterian Española Hospital provides to the rural communities in the area, especially the life-saving substance use treatment that helps families address this heartbreaking reality,” Haaland said. “But, right now those services are under direct attack from Trump and Republicans’ cuts to Medicaid.”
“I know what it’s like to wait hours for health care or drive long distances to get the care my family needs,” she continued. “As governor, I will be committed to standing up for our rural communities and working to provide health care for all New Mexicans.”
Presbyterian Española Hospital has served the Española Valley and Rio Arriba County since 1948. Medicaid covers more than one-third of the hospital’s patients, leaving the facility particularly exposed to reductions in Medicaid funding.
In June 2025, as Congress debated President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation, an analysis identified Presbyterian Española Hospital as one of 15 New Mexico hospitals whose reliance on Medicaid could put them at risk from proposed cuts.
The hospital is also responding to the region’s substance use crisis. Rio Arriba County has an overdose death rate nearly three times the statewide rate. The hospital converted the space formerly occupied by its emergency department into an Addiction Medicine clinic, with support in part from the state’s Rural Health Care Delivery Fund.
During her campaign, Haaland has traveled to all 33 New Mexico counties, where she says she has heard similar concerns about access to health care and the challenges facing rural communities.
Those concerns include a nurse in Gallup who says she cannot find enough colleagues to safely staff her unit, a Tribal citizen without reliable transportation to medical appointments, a Roswell family traveling three hours to see a specialist and a small business owner in Española who says he cannot afford health insurance for his employees.
Haaland has also pointed to her own experiences navigating the health care system as a single parent, including using Medicaid.
During her time in Congress, Haaland supported efforts to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, expand medical residency programs and address health care workforce shortages. As U.S. Secretary of the Interior, she worked to expand mental health resources in schools and increase health care access for Tribal communities.
The visit to Presbyterian Española Hospital comes as health care access, Medicaid funding and the challenges facing rural hospitals remain significant issues in New Mexico’s gubernatorial campaign.
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