Avalon Development Holding and Albuquerque, N.M.-based Lovelace Health System have proposed new hospital facilities for Valencia County, N.M., according to a News-Bulletin report.
Here are six things to know about the proposal.
1. Avalon, which developed Los Lunas, N.M.-based senior living subdivision Jubilee, plans to build two new healthcare facilities — a 24/7 stand-alone emergency room in Los Lunas and a wellness center in the city of Belen, N.M.
2. The ER will have the same provisions as a hospital, offering 85 percent to 90 percent of the care patients receive at a traditional hospital, Avalon Chairman and CEO James Gilbert told the News-Bulletin. The freestanding emergency facility would be staffed at all hours by board-certified ER physicians and registered nurses with emergency room background and training. Avalon also is looking at an adjacent facility having medical office space for visiting specialists.
3. As far as a wellness center in Belen, it is projected to be "a place for appropriate health screenings, clinic, activities, education; the preventative/educational side of healthcare," according to Lovelace COO Janelle Raborn.
4. Avalon will lease both of the facilities to Lovelace.
5. Mr. Gilbert spoke positively of the plan. "We thought, 'How can we help the citizens of ValenciaCounty? How can we help this win-win situation?' We looked at who is the biggest operator here. Lovelace has always been interested in expanding their footprint; the most obvious way is south," he told the News-Bulletin.
6. The future of the project hinges partially on proposed litigation. Lovelace was the provider partner for the now-defunct proposed Los Lunas hospital to be built by Oklahoma-based Miller Architects, according to the report. That project fizzled about two years ago, as litigation over the use of the more than $20 million in taxpayer dollars dragged on through court. That case is still pending before the New Mexico Court of Appeals. Mr. Gilbert said in the report that the lawsuits had to be dropped for the project to move forward.