N.M. losing doctors while Rust sees gains, hospital chief says

RIO RANCHO — While Presbyterian Rust Medical Center in Rio Rancho is experiencing growth, the hospital’s top administrator said Tuesday that New Mexico is losing physicians at an alarming rate and doctors are facing more lawsuits than those in other states.

John Adams, chief executive officer of Rust Medical Center, spoke about these challenges and more during a monthly meeting with the Sandoval Economic Alliance.

Adams, who took the helm of Rust Medical Center over a year ago, spoke as the hospital approaches its 14th anniversary in October.

Citing data from Think New Mexico, Adams said between 2019 and 2025, New Mexico was the only state in the country to lose physicians — and if the state had tied for next-to-last, it would have gained 250 doctors.

When it comes to causes of a physician shortage, “It’s probably all of the above,” Adams said in response to an attendee’s question.

He said improving the quality of life for doctors and reducing the cost of running a practice are potential solutions to the shortage.

Adams noted that Oklahoma, where he lived previously, had a higher percentage of independent doctors in contrast to New Mexico, which as of January 2024 had only 25% doctors not affiliated with a hospital — a decision used to cut down on overhead costs.

“It’s an incredibly challenging environment to be a truly independent physician in New Mexico — I was not used to that when I moved here,” Adams said, citing statistics from the New Mexico Medical Society.

One of those costs is malpractice insurance, which for Rust has increased 500% since 2019, according to Adams.

“We are a very malpractice-rich environment,” he said.

Anecdotally, Adams said he knows of a few practicing physicians not originally from New Mexico, and then in a year or two, they receive their first malpractice lawsuit.

“(They say), ‘What did I do wrong?’” Adams said. “It’s a very, very different malpractice environment.”

That environment, he said, includes attorneys coming from out of state to try malpractice cases in New Mexico, according to an article from Searchlight New Mexico.

Adams used part of his presentation to discuss the Presbyterian Health Care System, which includes nine hospitals, more than 40 clinics, over 1,200 clinicians, and more than 550,000 patients.

Rust, located at 2400 Unser Blvd. SE, has close to 200 licensed beds as well as amenities including a cancer and heart center, according to information Adams provided in his presentation. While the heart center opened in January 2024, the cancer center is expected to be complete sometime next year, the information stated.

Rust is conducting a major recruitment for specialists this year, according to Adams. The hospital plans to add more than a half dozen surgeons, an oncologist, a urologist and two specialists for argon plasma coagulation, the information provided in his presentation said.

“We’re happy to see the growth there,” Adams said.

Rust is also working on operational efficiencies, including speeding up emergency room visit processes and reducing ambulance transport delays, Adams said.

The future of local health care includes not only improving the physician shortage or expanding Rust but also engaging in technologies such as artificial intelligence, according to Adams.

Using this technology is about answering the question, “How do we make life easier” for physicians and patients? Within the last year, doctors at Rust have used AI to take notes automatically during patient visits, editing out irrelevant material like small talk and including relevant medical information.

The technology is a stark contrast from even 15 years ago, when doctors had to call a transcription service to make medical appointment notes, Adams said.

While AI has its benefits, Adams added that Rust is cautious of its use. Industrywide, he said, AI has been used in radiology settings to provide doctors some guidance on what they should look for after an X-ray is done.

“You can start to see why we’d be hesitant to go all in on that type of technology, because you start to move away from relying on creating an expertise of a doctor,” Adams said. “On the flip side, it’s not meant to replace doctors.”