Five companies have responded to a Request for Proposals issued earlier this year to build a 35,100 square-foot hospital in Valencia County, New Mexico.
County officials for years have wanted to see the construction of an acute care facility, an idea that was bolstered last year when the New Mexico Department of Finance approved $50 million in funding to plan, design, and build such a facility.
The RFP issued earlier this year by the county details a 15-bed facility that will be built on a roughly 10-acre site. It additionally forecasts a 7,500 square-foot emergency department, 6,200 square-foot operating room space; and an 800 square-foot lab.
Additional aspects provided in the RFP list an 800 square-foot pharmacy, l,000 square feet of clinical support space, and 2,000 square feet of ancillary support space.
A push to get the project to the construction stage comes with a pointed time factor. The original state funding for the project came with a stipulation that it be spent by the end of 2025.
This spring, notes the Valencia County News Bulletin, county officials successfully asked the New Mexico State Legislature to “extend the deadline to 2026, as well as allow for 5% of the $50 million to be used for pre-opening expenses.”
It is now expected that a contract to build the new hospital will be announced by the end of this year.
By Garry Boulard
