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Memorial Medical Center’s Proposed Lease Amendment Under Review; Plus Other City Council Takeaways

Memorial Medical Center, Las Cruces

The Las Cruces City Council will form a joint work group of city and county representatives to further review a proposal to amend the current lease agreement between Memorial Medical Center and the city.

One request of the amendment—a reduction in the hospital’s annual net revenue allocated to capital improvement. LifePoint Health, which represents the hospital, has proposed a change from 4% to 3%.  LifePoint Health Chief Financial Officer Steve Winegeart believes the reduction leaves room for greater flexibility.

“3% is more competitive with what is being done nationally, but one thing I can tell you is that we're not going to take our foot off the gas pedal of developing Memorial Medical Center into a major regional referral center. And that includes refurbishing the patient tower,” Winegeart said. “We also have created the Wound Care Center in the past that’s freestanding…I could go on and on, and it really is just giving us more flexibility in how we channel capital toward the goals of this institution.”

Mayor Ken Miyagishima reflected on the reasoning behind the original terms of the lease, which is now over 16 years old.

“I think the city/county felt that 4% was a decent amount to make sure that not only was the hospital staying with the most up to date equipment, but also for possible expansion,” Miyagishima said. “Because it was a very difficult time to let go of the city/county owned hospital. We still own it, of course, but we lease it. So I guess if you think of it like a triple net lease, we're requiring them to fix the hospital, add to it and basically keep it functional until the time that lease expires, or we decide to move in a different direction.”

Miyagishima expressed his desire to hire an outside expert to take a look at the lease agreement. He also brought up his desire to establish an additional facility in Southern New Mexico that focuses on mental and behavioral health.

Mayor Pro Tem Kasandra Gandara requested that historical information be provided on the lease agreement as well as a cost breakdown of past capital improvement projects.

“I feel like a bit behind the eight ball. I don't have a lot of information about what the lease says,” Gandara said. “So for each of our facilities that we have situations like this, that we lease out, I want to know, what is our role and responsibility ensuring that we are meeting the needs of that particular lease.”

The council also received updates on GO Bond projects currently underway around the city.

The 35.6 million GO Bond was approved in August of 2018 and includes funding for park improvements, an animal service center, a fire station replacement and recreation trails.

One of the most talked about projects was the Unidad Park restoration which will include the replacement of wood playground pieces and the addition of a new splash pad. Interim Public Works Director David Sedillo empathized the city wishes to stay true to the original park concept.  

“As part of the replacement of the park, we're going to be taking and maintaining that look and feel. As all of you know, the Unidad Park was a huge community endeavor to build a park,” Sedillo said. “We wanted to make sure that the design reflected that in the new construction. So as part of that, we're going to be replacing all the wood pieces with composite material.”

Councilman Gabe Vasquez spoke about increasing public awareness of the projects with large signs on work sites.

“I think in terms of communicating to the public, that these GO bond projects are moving forward, and holding ourselves accountable to a completion date, or even just summer/fall 2021, 2022, it would be, I think, terrific to have some signage in front of each GO Bond project,” Vasquez said. “Because that's really where the interface is going to happen. While the public is using those parks, or using those facilities, they will know that a renovation has come.”

Madison Staten was a Multimedia Reporter for KRWG Public Media from 2020-2022.