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The hearing for final approval of a $146 million adult-care hospital has been postponed pending a series of public meetings that will address concerns from the community.
UNM representatives sent a letter to the State Board of Finance last Monday asking to defer the final approval of the hospital after members of New Mexicans for Equal Health Care Access and the Rio Grande Foundation expressed concern that approval for the hospital was not made transparent with sufficient public conversation and that the hospital’s purpose is unclear.
UNM Health Sciences Center members asked to move the discussion to Oct. 16 and said the town hall meetings and the additional time will provide an opportunity to address concerns over the new hospital, such as the hospital’s mission and finances.
No dates have been set for the town halls yet.
The hospital was approved by the Health Science Center Board of Directors, the regents’ Finance and Facilities Committee and the Board of Regents in June and was scheduled to open July 2014, pending approval from the New Mexico Higher Education Department and State Board of Finance. The New Mexico Higher Education Department approved the hospital and approval was on the agenda for last Tuesday’s State Board of Finance meeting.
The new hospital, which would be constructed near Lomas Boulevard and I-25 and include 96 inpatient hospital beds, aims to decrease emergency waiting room wait time, which is about 24 to 36 hours on average. UNMH sees about 90,000 emergency patients a year and runs at a 95 percent occupancy rate; the additional beds will allow emergency room beds to be used for emergency cases.
HSC Communications and Marketing Executive Director Billy Sparks said that before the meeting next month, regents will host a series of town hall meetings to allow for public input. He said the meetings will provide an opportunity for the University administration to express the need for additional hospital beds and allow more transparent discussion about the future of the hospital.
“We look forward to receiving approval for this very important project,” he said. “We also look forward to sharing the reasons for this project and getting additional comments from the community as part of our ongoing commitment to maintain transparency and respond to community concerns.”
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