The long-planned construction of a tower that will provide new care space for the University of New Mexico Hospital has taken a significant step towards becoming reality.
The New Mexico Higher Education Department has now given its approval to what will be a nearly $402 million project, the largest such facility project of its kind on the UNMH campus in a decade.
More specifically, the building will go up on some 6.5 acres along Lomas Boulevard near the corner of Yale Boulevard.
Some $320 million in funding for the project is coming through the U.S. Housing and Urban Development, with just under $52 million secured from the UNM Hospital Capital Initiatives.
A smaller $30 million will be provided via the State of New Mexico.
As proposed, the tower, with seven stories, will have room enough for 18 operating rooms, medical laboratories and suites and nearly 100 intensive care unit beds.
Also included in the project: classroom and food service space, as well as room for a retail pharmacy.
The project is expected to be built over a period of three years, with the new facility accepting patients in the fall of 2024.
UNMH was founded in 1952. The last significant construction on its campus saw the building of the $225 million Barbara and Bill Richardson Pavilion, a six-story, 455,000 square foot addition to the main hospital building.
By Garry Boulard
