Health

Vice President Richelle Montoya and Radeanna Comb, the program manager for the Navajo Special Diabetes, raised concerns this week about delays in diabetes funding that continue to affect services in tribal communities, even after Congress set the Special Diabetes Program for Indians at $200 million for fiscal 2026.

Plans for a replacement Gallup Indian Medical Center remain stalled as Navajo leaders seek the return of $60 million in federal funding needed to start formal planning for the project.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed House Bill 99 into law, a measure lawmakers say addresses concerns about medical malpractice litigation and access to health care in rural parts of the state.

Navajo Nation health officials traveled to Washington, D.C., the week of Feb. 16 as tribal leaders shaped $83 billion in Indian Health Service funding priorities for fiscal 2028, pressing for investments in mental health care, hospital construction and a new medical center in Gallup as the nation’s largest tribal health system confronts aging facilities and staffing shortages.

The Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation has opened a 48-unit apartment complex for hospital staff, part of an effort to address housing shortages that have made it harder to recruit and keep health care workers in the region.