The loss of the hospital in the community sparked a new debate about Indian health care

The hospital is run nationwide by the Indian Health Service based in Rockville, Md. The agency was formed to meet the government’s contractual obligations to provide health services to eligible Alaskan Indians and natives.

The Acoma Cañoncito Laguna service unit, 60 km west of Albuquerque, cares for around 126,000 patients annually. Before the reduction in services, the company had 25 inpatient beds and looked after around 9,100 tribal citizens of the surrounding tribes. The hospital has been in operation since the mid-1970s and provides inpatient and outpatient care, as well as dental, optometric, pharmaceutical and medical emergency services.

Coronavirus cases for the Acoma Pueblo, which has a population of around 3,000, have increased recently, including 100 in early November after no cases were reported in September.

The Albuquerque area office is one of I.H.S. and serves 20 pueblos, two Apache bands, three Navajo chapters, and two Ute tribes in four southwestern states. There are five hospitals, 11 health centers and 12 field clinics serving the residents of the area.

Wendy Sarracino, 57, an Acoma community health worker, said when her son broke his leg, she had to stop at two hospitals before he could get the care he needed. At the time of his injury, the Acoma Cañoncito Laguna Service Unit hospital was closed for that day, so Ms. Sarracino drove her son to Grants for 45 minutes.

After the hospital failed to diagnose the multiple fractures in her son’s legs, Ms. Sarracino drove him to Albuquerque for another hour. Grants Hospital found only a single fracture in her son’s leg, but an X-ray at Albuquerque Hospital found multiple fractures in both legs.

“That was kind of a lifeline,” Ms. Sarracino said of the hospital. “We didn’t have to go very far for health care. It has to be made aware that the people of rural New Mexico live and we need health care.”