A national health care advocacy organization held a press conference in Globe last month, claiming federal Medicaid cuts put Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center among five Arizona hospitals at risk of closure — a characterization the hospital disputes.
Protect Our Care, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on defending Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, organized the April 20 event at the 1916 Globe Train Depot Complex & Museum. Speakers discussed the potential impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on rural health care access, particularly at CVRMC.
The bill, signed into law on July 4, 2025, cuts more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
Citing data from the Cecil G. Sheps Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Protect Our Care identifies CVRMC as one of five Arizona hospitals potentially at risk. However, CVRMC CEO Neal Jensen told the Globe Miami Times in two separate interviews last year that the hospital is not at risk of closure.
Despite that, local health care providers and community members voiced concern about the potential impact of funding reductions on the hospital and local care.
“Cobre Valley is the only full-service hospital for miles,” Joy Maines, a physician assistant and local health care provider of more than 15 years, told the crowd. “It is where babies are born, where cancer is fought, where heart attacks are treated, where broken bones are set, where chronic illness is managed, and where lives are saved every single day.”
For most residents, the nearest alternative hospitals are in Phoenix. However, construction closures along Highway 60 between Miami and Phoenix limit access to those options.
“For five hours a day, three days a week, the route to a major medical facility is literally blocked,” she said, adding that lives will be lost if local care is not available.
Globe City Councilman Fernando Shipley, who serves on the hospital's board of directors and spoke at the event in a personal capacity, said the loss of federal ACA funding eliminated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would have real consequences, given CVRMC is nonprofit and approximately one-third of its revenue comes from Medicaid.
"Could you imagine losing one-third of your income?" he asked, adding that even short of closure, "there will have to be cuts."
The hospital currently gets federal funding through the Affordable Care Act, he said, and those government kickbacks are eliminated in the bill. The revenue received was used on new equipment and expanded programs.
According to 2024 data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, about 28% of Arizonans are enrolled in Medicaid, also known as the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. Of the approximate two-million enrolled statewide, roughly 500,000 are expected to lose coverage under the changes cited by Protect Our Care.
Maines said many local Medicaid recipients are working residents who lack employer-sponsored insurance.
“They are not people taking advantage of anything,” she said. “Many put their own health last because they are too busy taking care of everyone else.”
Protect Our Care also estimates that Medicaid cuts could result in the loss of 477,000 health care jobs nationwide.
Aja DeZeeuw, Globe High School counselor, spoke about how funding cuts could affect student programs, such as Scrubs Camp and Cobre Valley Institute of Technology, which offer a shadowing program to train local medical assistants and phlebotomists. DeZeeuw said these programs and partnerships show students that there are real opportunities locally.
“Losing the hospital or even some of these programs because of budget cuts would be a huge loss of opportunity for our students,” DeZeeuw said.
Globe Miami Times will continue to report on how Medicaid cuts may affect local health care access.
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