Panel offers plan to fix N.M. health care.

Byline: Nancy Salem NSALEM@ABQTRIB.COM / 823-3675

LAS CRUCES All New Mexicans should have access to basic health-care services, and the definition of that care should be determined at the grass-roots, community level.

That was a key conclusion of the New Mexico First Town Hall "Twenty-first Century Healthcare in New Mexico: Constructing a Rational Plan" held Thursday through Sunday in Las Cruces.

The 127 participants from 20 New Mexico communities produced a 28-page consensus report full of concerns about the health-care system and suggestions on how to fix it.

"I think it is a document that we can use to really look at health care in the state of New Mexico, which has so many health-care problems," said Bill Johnson, a Town Hall participant and former state Human Services Department secretary. "It's a foundation document. It's going to be a document to go into the legislative session with."

The Town Hall participants said they "deplored New Mexico's last place ranking in many critical health indicators."

They discussed the basic level of health care that should be available to all New Mexicans, the levels of responsibility of the key partners in providing and paying for care, what needs to happen for all New Mexicans to financially and physically access care, and the underlying goals, values and solutions that would make up a rational plan.

"We …