Hospital contract approved

The Valencia County Commission unanimously approved an operating agreement for the new Valencia County Hospital last week.

The agreement is between Valencia County and Brazos Health Partners.

In April 2024, commissioners voted 4-0 to award a health care facilities contract to Brazos — the joint venture between Texas-based Community Healthcare Corporation and Albuquerque’s Lovelace Health System — for the Valencia County hospital.

At the Feb. 4 commission meeting, Valencia County attorney Dave Pato explained as per the terms of the operating agreement, the county will retain ownership of the land, building and equipment, which it will lease to BHP so it can provide health services to the community.

“Brazos retains all operating revenue and bears all operating costs,” Pato told the commissioners. “If (this agreement) is terminated, all assets revert to the county.”

Some operational costs of the hospital will be covered by Valencia County taxpayers, thanks to an eight-year, 2.75 mil property tax passed in November 2006. The tax was imposed from 2007 to 2014, and about $27.5 million was collected. Those funds cannot be used for construction of the hospital.

In late 2021, Gov. Michell Lujan Grisham announced legislation that allocated $50 million for construction of an acute care hospital, which Valencia County was able to secure.

The operating agreement will be fully executed once information pertaining to the property, equipment and inventory for the hospital is completed, Pato said. The commissioners authorized Valencia County Manager Jhonathan Aragon and Commission Chairman Gerard Saiz to execute the agreement once those are complete.

“I anticipate those exhibits will be finalized closer to the completion of hospital construction, after the inventory and equipment have been acquired,” the attorney said.

Commissioner Joseph Bizzell asked if the county would retain the operating license for the hospital should the operating agreement with Brazos be terminated. Pato said the agreement gives BHP permission to “operate our hospital. They will get a license from (the New Mexico Department of Health) to operate a hospital in New Mexico.”

The operating agreement stipulates BHP will create a board of trustees for the hospital, which will be the governing body for the hospital. The board will have seven members, including the hospital’s chief executive officer and chief of the medical staff, physicians on the hospital’s medical staff, as well as members of the local community.

Brazos will select the members of the board, but one must come from a list of three nominees provided by the county, who are non-physician members of the community and not a county commissioner.

Construction on the hospital began in late November 2024 and the project is slated to be completed by the middle of this year.

The 40,000-square foot, single-story facility will be located on 21 acres at the northeast corner of Main Street (N.M. 6) and Sand Sage Road in the village of Los Lunas. The property is west of Interstate 25 and southeast of the Los Lunas Fire Station 2 on Sand Sage Road.

The entrance to the 24/7 emergency department and ambulance drop off will be on the northwest side of the site. A helipad will be located north of the emergency department.

The floor plan includes 11 inpatient rooms in the first phase, with four more in the second phase, an imaging department, pharmacy, labs, surgical services and two endoscopy suites — with room for two additional operating rooms if needed in the future — a critical care unit, as well as an area for diagnostics and therapy.

The site plan includes space to expand the inpatient rooms and surgical areas in the future, as well as plans for a 24,000-square foot, two-story medical office building on the northeast corner of the site.

In a joint statement issued by CHC and Lovelace in 2024, the hospital will be owned by Valencia County and operated by a joint venture of the two companies — Brazos Health Partners.

“Under the joint venture arrangement, CHC will be the manager with responsibility for day-to-day hospital operations while Lovelace will provide critical support services, including medical group support and access to its electronic health record. As part of Lovelace Health System, the hospital will reflect the Lovelace brand,” the statement reads.

According to the statement, representatives of CHC and Lovelace “completed an extensive review of potential sites ...” which “considered a variety of factors including population growth trends, ease of access, proximity to I-25 and room to accommodate future expansion.”

CHC and partner Lovelace were the only respondents to the county’s request for proposals for operation of an acute care hospital in Valencia County, which was issued in August 2022.