The new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health clinic in the the Las Soleras subdivision would mean a doubling of space and the chance to expand health care to veterans throughout the region, a VA official said Tuesday.
The 7,225-square foot community-based outpatient clinic is planned for the tip of Santa Fe’s new south side on Las Soleras property at Cerrillos and Beckner roads. When finished in late 2014 or 2015, it will offer more than double the space as the existing clinic at 2213 Brothers Road, said William Armstrong, spokesman for the VA.
A major component of VA health care at the new facility will be telemedicine, which will allow military veterans in Northern New Mexico access to specialists throughout the United States without traveling. The new facility will have dedicated telehealth space and equipment, Armstrong said.
“The new clinic will allow us to expand the telehealth services we currently provide. Plans are in the works to add telehealth services such as ENT (ear, nose, and throat) in the near future,” Armstrong said in an email interview. “The bottom line is that this technology will reduce the need for travel to specialist services, thus increasing the quality and timeliness of care for our veterans.”
“The facility will be designed with a layout conductive to health and healing, with a group space for treatment and education, including telehealth space, and the integration of primary, mental health and specialty care,” George Marnell, director of New Mexico’s VA health care, said in a statement.
The existing Santa Fe clinic now serves 2,264 veterans, but as the telehealth expands, more veterans might come to Santa Fe from other centers. “We may hire staff to facilitate the specialty appointments by telehealth,” Armstrong said.
U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján have all raised concerns about the quality of VA care in Santa Fe, Raton, Gallup, Las Vegas, N.M., and Taos and urged the government to raise the quality of services.
The VA has entered into a 10-year lease for the Las Soleras property with Beckner Road Equities for a total cost of $3.2 million. The lease option was chosen so the VA can reassess its space and facility needs after the first 10 years, said Armstrong.
Las Soleras and Beckner Road Equities are owned by an Albuquerque father-and-son partnership, both of whom started in law and then expanded out into real estate and commercial development, including construction. Father Gordon “Skip” Skarsgard has been involved in real estate through his law office since the 1980. His son, Josh Skarsgard, is a 2006 graduate of The University of New Mexico School of Law, according to Albuquerque Business First. In addition to the Santa Fe property, the Skarsgards have projects in Rio Rancho, Española and Albuquerque.
Also a partner in Las Soleras is George Mahoney, while Santa Fe planning consultant James Siebert is doing much of the land-use work for Las Soleras, which also includes a residential component that may reach 2,000 homes. The 550-acre project is across from the new Wal-Mart Supercenter and stretches from Cerrillos Road near Governor Miles Road to Interstate 25, and then past the Fashion Outlets of Santa Fe and east to a portion of Richards Avenue.
The state of New Mexico also was looking at the property for a new Human Services Department headquarters and has an option on 20-acres at Las Soleras. It was not known Tuesday if the state planned to move forward.
If the VA clinic opens, it may not be the only health care facility on the site. Presbyterian Healthcare Services owns a 40-acre parcel, which sits in the middle of the project. Beckner Road is now finished and extends east to the border of the Presbyterian property, Siebert told The New Mexican in December.
Presbyterian, a nonprofit that writes insurance and provides direct patient care, just opened a new hospital in Rio Rancho, and its corporate energy is focused on making that a success. And Siebert thinks the provider would likely start with an urgent care center, then phase into a hospital, depending on the economics.
Presbyterian has declined to discuss their Santa Fe plans.
The site for the VA clinic is already on an approved plat for that use, said Heather Lamboy, city planner, so no additional public input is necessary. But, because the tract is within 265 feet of the I-25 right-of-way, there will have to be “a visual impact analyses of views from I-25 both northbound and southbound.”
“At a minimum,” Lamboy said, “we will likely see a subdivision plat and the visual impact analysis go through a public hearing process with the Planning Commission,” if they decide to develop.
By: Bruce Krasnow (Santa Fe New Mexican)
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By: Bruce Krasnow (Santa Fe New Mexican)
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