The Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. — Six New Mexico hospitals will be fined a portion of their Medicare payments in the coming year for having higher rates of patient injury and infections.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports hospitals on the list include Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe; University of New Mexico Hospital and Presbyterian Medical Center in Albuquerque; Gallup Indian Medical Center; Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo and Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock.

The rates of injury and infection have dropped from 2016, when some 30 hospitals in New Mexico were penalized. Under the Affordable Care Act, there are financial incentives for hospitals to reduce infections and injuries.

According to federal officials, facilities in larger metropolitan areas and those that serve higher poverty populations were cited more often than hospitals elsewhere.