![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yoli-Diaz.jpg\")
A patient advocate in Las Cruces is suing Do\u00f1a Ana County over an alleged \u201cpattern and practice\u201d of violating New Mexico\u2019s public records laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yoli Diaz, who has spent five years advocating for low-income patients in Southern New Mexico, filed the suit in the state\u2019s 3rd Judicial District Court last week. The suit<\/a> focuses on documents related to the county\u2019s agreement with Memorial Medical Center, a hospital that has come under intense scrutiny in recent years over allegations it refused to provide cancer treatment to uninsured patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diaz has worked with hundreds of patients through her nonprofit, Cancer Aid Resources and Education Inc.<\/a> Several of those patients say they were denied cancer care at Memorial. As recently as last week, she spoke at a Do\u00f1a Ana County Commission meeting about a patient who was denied an appointment at Memorial\u2019s cancer center because she lacked insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawsuit raises new questions regarding Do\u00f1a Ana County\u2019s role in the ongoing controversy surrounding the region\u2019s largest hospital, which has faced multiple investigations by state and local authorities over its financial and medical practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Memorial, a for-profit hospital operated by a private equity-owned firm called Life Point Health, leases its property from Do\u00f1a Ana County and the city of Las Cruces. In a lease agreement signed in 2004, Memorial agreed to provide care to residents of the county, regardless of ability to pay. Eligible uninsured patients are covered by the county\u2019s indigent health care fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to documents shared with Searchlight, Memorial changed its policy in 2016 to exclude cancer care and specialty care for indigent patients \u2014 a change that would have required approval by Do\u00f1a Ana County, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow did these things occur?\u201d Diaz said in an interview with Searchlight. \u201cSomebody made the decision to allow it. I want answers, and I think the public should also understand what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between 2022 and 2025, Diaz submitted over a dozen public records requests for documentation of the county\u2019s approval of the removal of cancer care from the lease agreement with Memorial, as well as other related documents. According to the lawsuit, the county repeatedly failed to comply with those requests in violation of the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In several cases, the lawsuit says, the county withheld relevant public records entirely. In others it inappropriately claimed attorney-client privilege, completely redacting nearly 90 pages of public documents. One document, a copy of the hospital\u2019s 2016 indigent care policy, was falsified and altered by an official at the hospital in order \u201cto delete the statement that the hospital was no longer providing cancer care to eligible indigent patients,\u201d the lawsuit alleges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Records indicate the county passed the records request for its indigent care policy to staff at Memorial, who then altered the document to delete the statement that cancer care was no longer being provided, Daniel Yohalem, the attorney representing Diaz in the lawsuit, told Searchlight in an interview. (Yohalem is a former member of Searchlight\u2019s board of directors.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey apparently did this to hide the fact that the decision to remove cancer care had been made,\u201d Yohalem said. \u201cFor the county to give a document to my client that was clearly altered by Memorial is clearly a violation of IPRA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Officials at Do\u00f1a Ana County did not respond to requests for comment, citing a policy prohibiting discussion of pending litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diaz\u2019s lawsuit is the latest in a series of investigations and legal actions around Memorial Medical Center\u2019s practices stretching over a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 Office of Inspector General investigated allegations the hospital illegally paid kickbacks to a physician and billed for medically unnecessary services. That investigation led to a $1.1 million penalty against the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2024 investigation by NBC News reported<\/a> over a dozen cancer patients had been turned away from Memorial, including a former nurse who had worked at the hospital before her cancer diagnosis and was refused treatment because the facility would not accept her insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly after the NBC investigation, New Mexico Attorney General Ra\u00fal Torrez launched an investigation of the hospital, citing reports Memorial had denied care or required patients to fork up full, up-front payments before receiving treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf proven, these actions may constitute violations of the Unfair Practices Act, the New Mexico Indigent Hospital and County Health Care Act, and the New Mexico Patients\u2019 Debt Collection Protection Act,\u201d Torrez said at the time. That investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in March of this year, the city of Las Cruces and Do\u00f1a Ana County filed a suit against Memorial Medical Center over alleged failures to provide required care for indigent and low-income patients and to make capital improvements at the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A representative from Memorial did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do\u00f1a Ana County \u2014 which, according to the lawsuit, would have been required to sign off on Memorial\u2019s policy change ending cancer care coverage for indigent patients \u2014 has also come under scrutiny. On Tuesday, the New Mexico state auditor released a blistering, 355-page report<\/a> detailing \u201csystemic failures in governance, operational effectiveness, internal controls, and fiduciary responsibility\u201d on the part of the county government, including failures to comply with public records laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of that audit outlined improper accounting practices in the county\u2019s handling of its lease agreement with Memorial Medical Center. Specifically, the audit found the county was using revenue generated through its lease with the hospital in its general fund, rather than earmarking the money in a special healthcare-specific fund as required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Memorial Medical Center\u2019s alleged refusal to provide cancer care to low-income residents has been an especially serious problem for the area\u2019s undocumented community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Las Cruces and Do\u00f1a Ana County \u2014 home to one of New Mexico\u2019s highest shares of immigrant residents \u2014 suffer from a shortage of doctors and medical specialists even more acute<\/a> than the rest of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2023 Legislative Finance Committee report<\/a> found the county already contends with one of the worst deficits of primary care doctors. Medical specialists, particularly in pediatrics, are virtually nowhere to be found. And the problem is only expected to deepen: By 2030, New Mexico is expected to have the second-largest physician shortage in the country, with a projected shortfall of 2,118 doctors, a gap that will likely hit especially hard in the already strapped southern part of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Memorial\u2019s cancer care program is the only local option for undocumented residents needing treatment. If turned away from treatment in Las Cruces, undocumented residents often have to seek care in Albuquerque or Santa Fe \u2014 a trip that requires passing through a series of border checkpoints that lie on northbound routes from Las Cruces, and risking potential deportation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis affects all low-income patients, but immigrants have it the absolute worst,\u201d Diaz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost people who live outside of checkpoints have no clue of this problem. Imagine being turned away from treatment where you live and having to decide between getting medical care and risking being deported. It\u2019s a life-or-death situation. The county and Memorial Medical Center have a responsibility to this community to provide care, no matter who the person who needs help is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diaz said her hope is that the lawsuit will not only force the county to comply with public records laws but also shed light on why the hospital was allowed to remove cancer care from its indigent care policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have asked repeatedly for answers as to who allowed the hospital to stop providing cancer care.\u201d She said. \u201cNow they\u2019re going to have to cough up something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Memorial-Medical-Center-1024x576.jpg\")
Nadav Soroker\/ For Searchlight New Mexico<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yoli-Diaz-in-her-office-1024x576.jpg\")
Nadav Soroker\/For Searchlight New Mexico<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOngoing controversy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Undocumented at risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/US-Customs-Checkpoint-1024x576.jpg\")
Nadav Soroker\/For Searchlight New Mexico<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n