Las Cruces Developers Reveal Plans for New Hospital

COURTESY PHOTO An artist’s rendering of the planned Las Cruces Regional Medical Center at Park Ridge.
Two New Mexico state flags and wooden stakes in the ground of what once was the Las Cruces Country Club mark what will become the Las Cruces Regional Medical Center at Park Ridge.
If the process for obtaining the necessary permits goes as planned, developers hope to break ground on a the full service 78,000-square-foot hospital by the end of the year. Construction is anticipated to take about 12 months, so there are expectations that Las Cruces’ newest hospital could open in 2016.
“We are real,” said Bob Pofahl of Las Cruces, who has been spearheading the project to redevelop the former country club’s 110 acres. “We have been doing lots of due diligence the last 18 months. We’ve got a world-class hospital that’s going to be built here.”
Eventually, the $250 million development will include apartments, retail and more in what will be the largest infill redevelopment project in Las Cruces’ 166-year history.
Pofahl and representatives of ASI Capital, a limited liability company from Colorado Springs; Galichia Hospital Group, a limited liability company in Wichita, Kan.; CarrBaierCrandall (CBC) Real Estate Group, of Kansas City, Mo.; Hutton Construction and Spangenberrg Phillips Tice Architecture, both from Wichita, Kan., gathered for an open house this week to discuss plans for the project.
The first phase of development will include construction of the hospital, an adjacent medical office complex, a rehabilitation hospital and an assisted living facility to be called Kiva Gardens.
Pofahl said the medical campus will be the anchor of Park Ridge, an urban village that will also include townhouses, multifamily homes, and a commercial area including shops, restaurants and cafes, and associated businesses.
“We want a hospital facility that is the best place for physicians to be,” Pofahl said. “We want to develop the medical campus first. It’s the anchor for the project.
He said the project will create 1,300 jobs, 580 of which will be medical jobs. He estimated it could take five to seven years to fully complete Park Ridge.
Galichia Hospital Group operates hospitals and clinics in Kansas, Texas and Kentucky. The Las Cruces Regional Medical Center will include 32 in-patient beds, three operating rooms, six-bed preparatory and recovery rooms, an eight-bed intensive care unit, a 12-bed post anesthesia care unit, a cardiac cath lab suite, radiology and emergency room suites, a pharmacy and laboratory.
“We’re excited to be here,” Dr. Joseph Galichia said. “The physicians I have met so far we’ve been very impressed with.
“Our goal is to give (Las Cruces and others who come to the hospital) the highest quality of medical care we can.”
Mike Bellew, vice president of development for CBC Real Estate Group, the hospital’s developer, said the next goal is to break ground by the end of the year.
“The Las Cruces Regional Medical Center is a perfect fit for the sustainable community vision of Park Ridge,” Bellew said. “The convenience and comfort of a nearby modern health care center supports the complete live, work and play lifestyle concept.
Bellew said a 70,00 square-foot medical complex will be next to the hospital, and will be connected by enclosed walkways.
Las Crucen Jay Robb said the rehabilitation center will include as many as 60 beds and will be geared to patients who are recovering and rehabilitating from strokes, heart procedures and conditions, and orthopedic surgeries. The Kiva Gardens assisted living center will include as many as 54 beds, and will be a full-service facility that would also offer living quarters for some patients.
“It will be a home-style facility with 12 to 14 residences for people who want and need assisted living,” Robb said. “It will be a single-level facility that will have quick and immediate access for patients and residents to the nearby hospital.”
Construction of the rehabilitation and assisted living centers probably won’t begin for another year, and both facilities will take nine to 12 months to complete once construction starts.
Steve Ramirez (Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.)
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