$135 Million Medical Center Planned for Santa Fe

SANTA FE – Presbyterian Healthcare Services announced Wednesday it is planning a $135 million medical center in Santa Fe that could be open in less than two years. It also has begun work on an expansion of its clinic on St. Michael’s Drive.
Helen Brooks, Presbyterian’s newly hired Santa Fe-area administrator, confirmed that the health care system is in the initial planning stages for the new 277,000-square-foot medical center in Las Soleras near Cerrillos Road and Interstate 25. The number of inpatient beds and staffing levels haven’t been determined.
Funding plans also are pending, but Brooks said she believes some of the cost for the proposed 277,000-square-foot facility will be addressed from philanthropy.
“We are embarking on an innovative health care model in Santa Fe,” said Brooks, who recently handled the approval and planning process of a $400 million hospital for her previous employer, a northwestern Illinois health care system.
“It’s exciting to be at the intersection of operations, facility planning, provider capabilities, design and execution,” said Brooks.
The proposed medical center would include outpatient clinical services, an Emergency Department and inpatient beds. Presbyterian expects to submit a formal proposal to the city in April. If approved, the first phase could open in early 2018, said Brooks.
Presbyterian, New Mexico’s largest private employer with 11,000 workers, eventually will create a medical campus that also will include other community health care providers.
But don’t expect a tower. The design scheme, still on the drawing board, and scale of the structure will be emblematic of the connection of “body, mind and spirit,” that will resonate with Santa Fe residents, said Brooks.
“The new medical center, which could potentially serve some of Presbyterian Health Plan’s 66,000 members in Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, and Taos counties, will focus on the needs of patients today – better-coordinated care in the outpatient settings where most care already occurs,” said Brooks. “Our goal is to complement existing services to improve the quality, experience and lower the total cost of care for our community.”
Presbyterian also has begun work on a 4,000-square-foot expansion of its clinic on St. Michael’s Drive, adding 13 patient exam rooms and more services. Work is expected to be complete by fall.
In addition to five primary care providers, a pharmacist clinician, and a psychologist, the clinic offers an urgent care clinic, a TriCore Reference Lab and radiology services. Specialty services include OB/GYN, neurology, endocrinology, cardiology, and orthopedics. Additional internal medicine providers will be added this year.
Brooks said Presbyterian expects to continue working with Christus St. Vincent Medical Center, which now is the only hospital in Santa Fe with 268 beds. She said Presbyterian Health Plan members would still use Christus St. Vincent for services such as heart surgeries and other procedures that require a long hospitalization or complex care.
“We anticipate that the partnership, which has been long-standing, will continue,” Brooks said.
Christus St. Vincent in September 2015 said it would no longer accept Presbyterian Medicare Advantage plan insurance for non-emergency treatment beginning this past January, a move that affected about 2,000 seniors. Patients in that plan who need non-emergency treatment must come to Presbyterian hospitals in Albuquerque, Española or Los Alamos.
Christus President and CEO Pat Carrier was traveling and unavailable for an interview but provided a statement saying, “We welcome any changes in the local health care landscape that serve to improve the health and wellness of our community.
“Our hope is that additional health care providers in our community will lead to expanded access to care, especially for those that cannot afford to access to preventative or ongoing care.”
Carrier said Christus St. Vincent has 130 physicians and other providers in more than 34 specialties and is the only Level III Trauma Center between Santa Fe and the Colorado border. It has 32 clinics and health centers.
“We are – and will remain – Santa Fe’s premier hospital,” Carrier said in the statement. “We have a clearly defined role of providing access and services for more than 300,000 residents of Northern New Mexico.”
Christus has plans of its own in the coming year – spending up to $45 million on a retrofit of its patient rooms and adding services.
Mayor Javier Gonzales welcomed Presbyterian’s announcement.
“More health care choices mean positive things for Santa Fe, particularly in this very quickly-growing area of our community,” he said. “Both St. Vincent’s potential expansion and Presbyterian’s announcement today mean a stronger health care system and an economic boost in high-paying jobs in a sector of critical need for Santa Fe.”
By: Steve Sinovic (Albuquerque Journal)
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