Sunday, October 26, 2008

Hospitals Push for Levy Approval

By Rosalie Rayburn
Journal Staff Writer
          More than $13 million a year is at stake for hospital care in Sandoval County on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.
        And the organizations planning to build hospitals in Rio Rancho say it would go a long way toward expanding their range of services more quickly if approved.
        Presbyterian Healthcare Services and the University of New Mexico say the new hospitals will bring better access to health care for county residents, create jobs and boost gross receipts tax revenues.
        Although both organizations say they have the money to build the hospitals, they're asking voters to support the property tax increase, which they say will enhance the services they will be able to offer.
        The Sandoval County Commission in August authorized putting the tax question on the ballot.
        If approved, the 4.25 mill levy would raise the annual property tax on a home with an assessed value of $100,000 by $141.66, or about $11.80 per month.
        The mill levy would generate an estimated $13.7 million annually, which the county would use to pay for contracts for hospital services. The levy would remain in effect for at least four years, but for not more than eight.
        The proposal has its critics.
        Faced with a tough economy and rising health insurance premiums for his family, one Rio Rancho resident is skeptical about the need for a property tax increase to support the hospitals.
        "These are for-profit businesses making good money. Why do we have to give these guys this money? Why do we have to subsidize them?" Charles Wilkins asked Rio Rancho city councilors at a meeting last week.
        Wilkins runs a Farmers Insurance agency in Rio Rancho. He estimated that the health care mill levy would raise property taxes on his home and office property by a total of $800 to $1,000 a year.
        "Nobody subsidized me when I started up," Wilkins told councilors.
        The hospitals say there are misconceptions about how they operate.
        "People need to realize that hospitals are not like any other business. Everybody who walks in gets treated regardless of their ability to pay. It's a unique responsibility," said Presbyterian spokesman Todd Sandman.
        Sandman and UNM spokesman Billy Sparks said the mill levy would enable the hospitals to add a wider range of specialist services more quickly than would be possible without the additional funds.
        For county residents who have had to battle cross-river traffic to reach hospitals in Albuquerque, having high-level care available in Rio Rancho will be a major benefit, they say.
        "The first hour after an accident is the most critical for determining cure rate. Having a facility people can reach in half the time will save lives," Sparks said in a phone interview on Friday.
        Lovelace Westside Hospital, which is in Bernalillo County, is currently the only hospital serving Westside Albuquerque and Rio Rancho. Many city and county residents have no option but to travel to Albuquerque for critical care, cancer treatment and to have babies.
        Sparks said the two new hospitals would also create about 2,000 jobs in Rio Rancho and generate more than $1 billion in gross receipts tax revenue for the county over 10 years.
        In addition, both Presbyterian and UNM have said they will work with the Rio Rancho schools to create training opportunities for careers in health care.
        Sandman pointed out that Wilkins' information was not totally correct. Presbyterian Healthcare Services is a nonprofit organization.
        Presbyterian broke ground on its $200 million hospital in August, at a site near Westside Boulevard and Unser. The 121-bed hospital is slated to open in late 2010. Presbyterian will use its own funds to build the hospital.
        UNM Medical Group is a stand-alone nonprofit corporation owned by the university. It has formed a partnership with Legacy Hospital Partners Inc. of Plano, Texas, a for-profit company, that will supply capital to build the hospital.
        UNM's 75-bed hospital will be on a 60-acre site in downtown Rio Rancho.
        Like their Albuquerque counterparts, the Rio Rancho Presbyterian and UNM hospitals will provide services, including emergency care, to patients with or without insurance, Sandman and Sparks said.
        Republican House District 44 incumbent Jane Powdrell-Culbert said at a recent candidate forum that Bernalillo County property owners have been paying a mill levy to help support UNM hospital for decades. Sandoval County residents who receive care there have been benefiting from that, she said.
        Sparks said UNM's Albuquerque hospital provided $152 million in uncompensated care to patients from outside Bernalillo County. The bulk of those patients came from Sandoval and Valencia counties, he said.
        County spokesman Gayland Bryant said the county's 2008-2009 fiscal year budget includes $2.85 million for indigent care.
        A large portion of that money will go toward paying for ambulance transportation. Having the hospitals in Rio Rancho will reduce transportation costs for the county, Bryant said.
        Sandoval County Hospital Levy Ballot Question
        For the purpose of supporting hospitals in Sandoval County, shall Sandoval County, New Mexico, impose a tax levy of four and twenty-five hundredths (4.25) mills each year, for not less than four (4) years and not more than eight (8) years, on each dollar of net taxable value of properly in Sandoval County to pay to contracting hospitals in accordance with health care facilities.