Parking structure funds shifted to Health Sciences

Funds for another parking structure on campus may go toward projects at the UNM Health Sciences Center instead. At their meeting yesterday, the Board of Regents’ Finance and Facilities Committee decided to support $12 million in HSC projects instead of the proposed C Lot parking structure at Redondo Drive and Las Lomas Road. The parking structure under construction at Lomas and Yale boulevards won’t be affected.

The Board of Regents will decide the final fate of the funds at their meeting Nov. 10. University spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said the UNM administration proposed the change in project funding because HSC projects will bring more money back to UNM than a parking structure.

“There are a number of needs on campus and people say, ‘Well, why do they pick those projects and not something that could have been on main campus?’” McKinsey said. “Well, the issue is that these projects can earn money and can pay off a debt service. That’s why they went with these.”

Projects that might receive funding include the Dental Residency Clinic, Neurosurgery and Spine Center, regenerative medicine, the Domenici Center for Health Sciences Education and the Clinical and Translational Science Center. The $12 million needed to fund the projects will come out of UNM’s 2007 bond issue proceeds.

HSC spokesman William Sparks said the HSC received $137.5 million in grant money last year. In a letter to the Finance and Facilities Committee, Andrew Cullen, associate vice president of Planning, Budget and Analysis, said building another parking structure would raise parking fees at a time when people might not be willing to pay them.

“Given the prospect of flat salaries in the near future for faculty and staff, it is recommended that the University attempt to hold parking fees as flat as possible,” Cullen said in the letter. “The postponement of the construction of the C Lot parking structure will assist with this goal.”

Sparks said expanding the Dental Residency Clinic will help with the shortage of dentists in New Mexico.

“The Dental Residency Program is a proven solution to the crisis of fewer and fewer dentists being available in New Mexico, especially in rural areas,” Sparks said. “The retention rate for dental residencies is very high, so by increasing capacity for the residency program we can have an immediate impact on dental care throughout the state.”

In a statement, Paul Roth, vice president of Health Sciences, said the Dental Residency Clinic additions would cost $2 million. Another proposed project — the Clinical and Translational Sciences Center — would take the place of the old Cancer Center, Sparks said. He said the center would translate medical research into new cures.

“If you’re focusing on a problem like obesity, diabetes or alcoholism those kinds of things you want practical applications for your science,” he said. “The Clinical and Translational Sciences Center is a huge opportunity to attract additional research projects and additional faculty. There are only so many of those centers in the country.”

Sparks said funding for the neurosurgery clinic would also attract larger research grants and top researchers.

“The Neurosurgery and Spine Center will have a clinical and a research application involved,” he said. “This will lead to cutting edge research. Last year the HSC broke the record for the amount of research grants received in our history.”