State paid over $100K to settle whistleblower litigation

Former Health Department bureau chief alleged she was retaliated against over staffing complaints

The state has paid nearly $103,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former Health Department bureau chief who alleged she was retaliated against for repeatedly raising concerns about chronic understaffing in the agency that inspects hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities.

The Health Department and the Risk Management Division entered into the settlement with Amber Espinosa-Trujillo, former chief of the department’s Health Facilities Licensing and Certification Bureau. The Risk Management Division recently released a copy of the settlement, which had been confidential for six months.

The state had denied that Espinosa-Trujillo, wife of Santa Fe mayoral candidate Ron Trujillo, was retaliated against in violation of the New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act.

Espinosa-Trujillo now works for the state Department of Cultural Affairs,

and the settlement bars her from working again for the Health Department until after Republican Gov. Susana Martinez leaves office at the end of 2018.

Nearly two years after Espinosa-Trujillo filed her lawsuit, the vacancy rate in the Health Facilities Licensing and Certification Bureau remains high, with more than three of 10 budgeted positions unfilled.

The Health Department didn’t respond to a request for an interview about the lawsuit settlement and how job vacancies are affecting the work of the licensing bureau.

High vacancy rates have been common throughout government during a longrunning state budget squeeze caused by the prolonged downturn in New Mexico’s economy.

Espinosa-Trujillo’s lawsuit, filed in state District Court in Santa Fe, alleged her supervisors began to impede the work of her agency in 2010 by failing to fill vacant positions, which resulted in a work backlog.

“Instead of filling vacant positions with new employees, the supervisors insisted on hiring outside contractors to perform the work, which resulted in needless additional costs to the taxpayers,” her lawsuit said.

It also said Medicaid payments to health care providers were threatened because of delays by the licensing bureau in certifying that they met quality-of-care standards.

As a result of Espinosa-Trujillo raising concerns about understaffing, her superiors retaliated by blaming her for the bureau’s failures, giving her a negative evaluation, imposing a one-day suspension without pay and demoting her, according to the lawsuit. The Health Department rescinded the suspension after a challenge from Espinosa-Trujillo.

The Health Department denied the allegations in a response filed to the lawsuit, saying Espinosa-Trujillo’s “unsatisfactory work performance and unprofessional behavior” were the cause of any discipline she received.

The Health Facilities Licensing and Certification Bureau is responsible for licensing and certifying more than 3,500 health care facilities in New Mexico. The bureau conducts inspections to ensure compliance with quality-of-care standards.

As of Aug. 1, the bureau had 81 budgeted positions, but 26 were vacant, according to an organizational listing for state government. The vacant jobs included 13 positions for health facility inspectors and nine slots for nurses.

The vacancies date to 2014, but 15 of the vacancies have occurred within the past year.

Lawyer Brian Egolf, who also is the speaker of the state House of Representatives, represented Espinosa-Trujillo in her lawsuit. He said he understands the budget constraints but that the Republican administration of Gov. Martinez needs to prioritize what jobs are filled.

“I certainly think it should be a high priority to get these inspections done” of health care facilities, said Egolf, D-Santa Fe.

The settlement agreement indicates it was was a “full and final” settlement of claims, which indicates that Espinosa-Trujillo had to pay her own legal fees.