Hospital approval meeting dates set

news@dailylobo.com

Meeting dates have been scheduled to address community concerns that postponed the final approval of a $146 million adult-care hospital.

The Board of Regents, UNM Health Sciences Center and UNMH representatives announced on Tuesday that three public meetings will be held next week to allow for public comment the adult-care hospital. The meetings will be held in community centers in the Bernalillo County area.

On Sept. 17, UNM representatives sent a letter to the State Board of Finance seeking to postpone the final approval of the hospital after members of New Mexicans for Equal Health Care Access and the Rio Grande Foundation said that hospital approval did not include sufficient public conversation and that purpose of the hospital is unclear.

Members from UNM Health Science Center asked to defer the discussion until the Oct. 16 board meeting to allow sufficient time for public meetings.

The hospital was approved in public meetings by the Health Science Center Board of Directors, the regents’ Finance and Facilities Committee, the full Board of Regents, the UNM Hospital Board of Trustees and the New Mexico Higher Education Department. The hospital was scheduled to open July 2014 pending approval from the State Board of Finance, which was on the agenda for the Sept. 18 State Board of Finance meeting.

The new hospital will include 96 hospital beds in an effort to decrease emergency waiting room wait time, which is about 24 to 36 hours on average for inpatient care. The hospital, which will be located near Lomas Boulevard and I-25, will allow emergency room beds to be used for emergency cases.

HSC Communications and Marketing Executive Director Billy Sparks said in a press release Tuesday that the meetings will allow concerned community members to interact with University leadership and UNMH physicians and leaders. He said that at the meetings, members of the University and UNMH will clarify the missions and responsibilities of the new hospital.

“Health Sciences Center leadership will discuss the types of activities that will occur in the facility and the current need for additional hospital beds and services,” he said. “UNMH is averaging more than 90 percent of capacity, and many days 99 percent capacity. We need additional beds now.”